Home >  Sports >  High School Sports >  Athlete of The Week

Thursday, February 07, 2002

By Paul Zeise and Mike White, Post-Gazette Sports Writers

SCHOOL: Peabody

WHO IS SHE? A 5-foot-9 senior guard on the girls' basketball team. She is one of the best players in the City League.

Peabody's Dominique Kelly puts up a shot against Carrick yesterday afternoon. (Matt Freed, Post-Gazette)

PAST WEEK: Has led the Highlanders, ranked third in the City, to four wins in their past five games. Scored 32 points in a 75-18 win against Wilkinsburg Jan. 25 and scored 24 in a victory against Carrick Tuesday.

SEASON: Kelly is averaging 23.8 points, 13.0 rebounds, 3.1 assists and 1.5 steals per game and has led the team to a 15-5 record. She has scored 30 or more points in five games with a season-high of 34 Dec. 18 against South.

CAREER: A four-year starter, she has scored a school-record 1,607 points, averaging more than 20 points and 12 rebounds per game the past three seasons.

GLAD SCIENTIST: One of Kelly's favorite subjects is science. She enjoys doing experiments and exploring so much that she is a member of Peabody's science club, which meets after school. As part of the science club's activities, Kelly takes trips to various science centers and conducts numerous experiments. One of her favorite activities is dissecting animals. "Some people think it is gross," said Kelly, who has dissected everything from mice and rats to pigs. "But I actually enjoy it because it is neat to see the insides of animals and see how their systems all fit together. It is a lot of fun."

ASPIRING JOURNALIST? Another of Kelly's hobbies is writing sports articles for the Peabody school newspaper. Her beat this winter is the boys' basketball team. "I don't think I'd want to do it for a living, but writing is something I enjoy doing," she said.

FAMILY TIES: One of Kelly's cousins is Indiana Pacers' center Carlos Rogers, and her older brother, Brandon, who graduated last year, was a 1,000-point scorer for the Peabody boys' team.

FUTURE: A number of schools at different levels are recruiting Kelly, but she hasn't decided where she will play college basketball. Regardless of where she goes, she will study elementary education.

-- By Paul Zeise

SCHOOL: Bethel Park

WHO IS HE? A senior and one of the top divers in the state.

LAST WEEK: Kaczorowski won the Chartiers Valley Invitational and set a pool record with 537 points. He broke the record set in 1985 by former Butler star Nunzio Esposto.

MORE RECORDS: Kaczorowski also set a Bethel Park pool record and a school record earlier this season.

FLIPPED OUT: Kaczorowski (5 feet 6) didn't dabble much in sports as a youngster. He played some youth league baseball, and that was about it. But he loved bouncing around on the trampoline he had for a few years in his back yard. Then, in ninth grade, Kaczorowski took a dive.

"I taught myself how to do flips on the trampoline," he said. "Then I found out about the diving team. I just went out to see what it was like. I picked up some things pretty quickly because I could do some flips."

EYE ON THE TITLE: As a sophomore, Kaczorowski finished third at the WPIAL Class AAA championships. Last year, he was second to Bethel Park teammate Greg Sies. But Sies has graduated, and this could be the year Kaczorowski gets to the top of the ladder. He is considered a heavy favorite to win the title Feb. 16.

"There's more pressure when people expect you to be No. 1," he said. "Everyone looks at you instead of the other way around. But I think it helps to have extra pressure to compete."

Kaczorowski's best finish at the PIAA meet was fourth last year.

THE OTHER TEAM: Besides diving for Bethel Park, Kaczorowski also trains with the Pitt Aquatic Club and is trained by Pitt Coach Julian Krug.

THE FUTURE: Kaczorowski, who has a 4.3 grade point average, is considering Notre Dame, Pitt, Virginia Tech and Syracuse. He wants to major in chemical engineering.

-- By Mike White