Thanks to their outstanding achievements both athletically and academically, Newburyport’s Parker McLaren and Beverly’s India Ingemi have been honored as the Moynihan Lumber Student-Athletes of the Month for February.
McLaren completed one of the most remarkable single-seasons in Newburyport High boys basketball history, leading his team to a 16-6 record and a second straight Cape Ann League Kinney Division title after averaging 22.9 points per game for the season, including 26.6 points in the month of February. The 6-foot-5 forward also averaged 9.6 rebounds per game, made 59 3-pointers and had 30 steals and 19 blocks while shooting 45 percent from the field and 50.8 percent from 3-point range.
The senior finished with 1,059 career points in three varsity seasons, becoming the fourth Newburyport High boys basketball player to ever reach the milestone, and after the season he was named CAL Kinney Division Player of the Year and Daily News Boys Basketball MVP.
Academically McLaren has also been outstanding. The senior has a GPA of 3.3 and recorded a 1330 on his SAT, and outside of the classroom he regularly volunteers at the Lawrence Boys and Girls Club, where he’s served Christmas and Thanksgiving Dinners to children in need over the past few years. He’s also worked every Clipper Boys Basketball Clinic and Newburyport Boys Basketball Association Clinic over the past three years while also helping out at a number of other local sports camps.
How is he able to manage everything he’s got going on?
“Just making sure I stay on track with my scheduling and getting my schoolwork done when I can,” McLaren said. “It’s been hard to time manage sometimes but you’ve got to get it done.”
As of now, McLaren is still undecided on his college plans. He is planning on playing Division 3 college basketball and is considering a handful of possible opportunities for his future.
Ingemi was among the top track and field athletes in all of New England this winter, starring in the sprints, jumps and relays against the best competition the region had to offer.
The Princeton-bound senior was the All-State champion in the 300-meter run (39.49) who went on to finish third at New Englands (39.73), and she also placed fifth in the 4×400 relay (4:03.85) and 12th in the 55-meter dash (7.53) at All-States. Prior to that she won the Division 2 state title in the 300 (39.44) and 55-meter dash (7.37), setting a new school record after running a 7.35 in the preliminary heat, and overall she finished her Beverly indoor track career with 11 school or class records.
“She’s the whole package,” Beverly coach Dave Jellerson told The Salem News. “India is a student-athlete who believes in team and works for the team.”
Over the course of the season Ingemi was named Beverly’s team MVP and All-Northeastern Conference while winning titles at the Coaches Invitational, Boston Holiday Challenge and MSTCA Northeast Invitational. She also led Beverly’s sprint medley relay to a championship finish at the Division 2 state relays (4:14.07) as well as a second place finish in the high jump relay (school record 14-9 1/2).
In the classroom she maintains a 4.74 GPA and is ranked seventh in her class, and between her prolific achievements on and off the track, she has earned the opportunity to run at Princeton next year.
Managing such a heavy workload has been a challenge, she said, but it’s gotten easier as high school has gone along.
“It’s hard, but it’s definitely been a little bit easier this year than in the past, seniors get senior privilege, so I get the last period off which gives me an extra hour to get work done before practice,” Ingemi said. “I’ll have some really late nights sometimes but I try to keep to a schedule for the week.”