The role of athletics and fitness is a crucial component in Academy life. For some, it's a daily fitness class, for others it's a role in a varsity or junior varsity sport. For seniors Emily McNamara and Matt Stolpinski, the commitment runs much deeper.

Both are good students-McNamara will attend Middlebury College next fall and Stolpinski the Naval Academy in the fall of 2004-but each has made a lasting mark on the field, in the gym or on the ice rink.

A day student from North Hampton, NH, Emily McNamara entered Exeter as a prep in the fall of 1999 and promptly earned a spot on the girls' varsity soccer team. Since then, she has played a varsity sport every season. This year, she was named captain and MVP of both the soccer and ice hockey teams. This spring, she joins a very short list of Exeter female athletes who have earned 12 varsity letters. The accomplishment is a great achievement in itself, but McNamara has added her own twist; she's done it in four different sports. In addition to soccer and ice hockey, she played softball as a prep. The following year, she switched to lacrosse because the pace of the game was more appealing to her.

No one at the school can remember an athlete in the last 30 years to earn 12 letters in four different sports. When told of the accomplishment, McNamara shrugs her shoulders and smiles, genuinely surprised by it.

McNamara's top sport is hockey, though her on-ice career began not with a stick and puck, but with a pair of figure skates. Things might have ended there had her two hockey-playing older brothers not needed a goalie. That got her started in the sport and from then until she came to Exeter, she played mostly on boys' hockey teams. "I grew up playing with the boys," she says. "The guys were a lot more competitive."

Seniors Emily McNamara (above) and Matt Stolpinski (photo at top of page) have each made a lasting mark on sports at Phillips Exeter: McNamara, for earning 12 varsity letters in four different sports, and Stolpinski, for his dominance as a wrestler at the regional and national level.

That competitiveness, McNamara admits, has rubbed off on other aspects of her life. "I wouldn't have made it here without sports," she says. There were times when the classroom was challenging, but having the chance for athletics as an outlet "has made it all worthwhile," she says.

In between classes and practices, McNamara found time to squeeze in a trip to Europe this past Christmas break. But it wasn't just a sightseeing visit. She was a member of an elite women's hockey team based in Washington, D.C. She points to the trip as an opportunity that was available to her because of sports.

Another opportunity that has opened up to her is the chance to attend Middlebury College next fall. When she suits up for the Panthers next season, the strengths of her game-speed and puck handling-will be showcased on the larger, Olympic-size ice rink. She will study English at the school and has hopes to one day coach at the college level. "I love this game," she says, "and I want to stay with it any way I can."

For Matt Stolpinksi, it was always one sport or another. At 8 years old, he was a BMX dirt-bike racing national novice champion. He played lacrosse, baseball, soccer and hockey while growing up in Westfield, MA, and credits a unique mentor in his athletic development. "I was always athletic," reflects Stolpinksi, "and my mom was pretty much always my coach when I was young."

Despite his many interests, it was another sport that drew Stolpinski more than the others. In fourth grade, he attended a club wrestling program at the local YMCA and was immediately hooked. In sixth grade, he started competing formally at Wilbraham & Monson Academy, and by the following year he was wrestling at the varsity level. In the fall of 1999, he came to PEA as a prep. "I realized I could be a national caliber wrestler at Exeter and go to a top school," he says. "If I had gone to another school, I might be ranked one or two places higher in the nation, but I wouldn't be anywhere close to where I am academically."

Since his arrival, Stolpinski has won the Class A Championship all four years, in three different weight classes. He's a three-time New England champion and has placed nationally each of the last three years. He's been named team MVP and outstanding wrestler at tournaments. Although the accolades continue to pile up, they aren't what define him.

Stolpinski has turned down full scholarships at some of the top wrestling schools in the country to attend the Naval Academy in the fall of 2004 and for the chance to eventually become a pilot. But before Stolpinksi embarks on that path, he has a chance to go to the Olympic Training Center in Colorado Springs for a year to train with future Olympians. Although he doesn't think he will reach the Olympic level, he values the challenge of competing against the best, day in and day out, and the chance to learn from them how to make himself better.

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