By Nelson Coffin
Gunston School, Soccer, Lacrosse
Andy Camp would never be accused of having blazing speed. In fact, the Gunston School senior was so time-clock challenged when he started playing high school sports, he made an immediate decision to work hard at changing his most glaring shortcoming.
“I was slllooowww,” he says, drawing out the word for more emphasis. “I could run for an hour or two, but I could not move quickly. During the offseason of sophomore and junior years, I devoted a lot of time to speed training. By junior year, I was among the fastest on the team.”
Knowing that center back in soccer and face-off midfielder in lacrosse are both positions in field sports that require speed, Gunston soccer coach Juan Angarita must be thankful for Andy’s transformation from sluggish to speedy.
“My soccer coach likes to remind me and the team of that often,” Andy says, about what an athlete can accomplish through hard work and discipline.
How did he ratchet up his quick-twitch muscles?
“The biggest thing I did for speed was repetitive intervals,” Andy explains. “I would sprint up hills and jog down, or sprint a stretch and jog a bit, and just keep doing that for half an hour. My speed was most helped by strengthening my calves, so I could really stay up on the balls of my feet and power through.”
Being faster means being more competitive, too.
“I love going one-on-one in any situation, and I get plenty of opportunities,” he says. “I get excited anytime I get sent on a run to play defense in soccer. It’s a pure competition between me and him. Our clears in lacrosse involve me sprinting from our side of the field to the other side, which is also quite fun.”
Andy’s off-the-field fun includes making engineering products for a science fair he attends every March. His most recent project has been making a portable hydroelectric generator and then updating it the following year.
Between sports seasons, his winter hobby is hunting, preferably “wing hunting” for duck and geese.
“The (duck) blind is just like a club house, with moments of intense excitement when the birds are around,” Andy says. “I also work at Pintail Point, a sporting clay course near Easton, so I love shotgunning.”
Andy hopes to attend a military academy, and has applied to the Coast Guard Academy and the United States Naval Academy. He may also include the United States Military Academy among his prospective college destinations.
