Evening Sun: L'town teen excels in school, sports, community

Littlestown High School three-sport athlete and scholar Greg Conover hopes to attend Penn State University in the fall. (Evening Sun photo by Jim Tullis)

By SETH GOLDSTEIN
Evening Sun Reporter

Sports are not the only thing Greg Conover specializes in.

The 18-year-old senior at Littlestown High School not only plays three sports, but is also in the top 10 percent of his class academically and is active in the Littlestown community.

Athletically, Conover isn't the type of guy to play only one sport. In addition to being the captain of the wrestling team, he's also a runner and pole-vaulter on the track and field team, and a cornerback and safety on the football team.

"I love all different types of sports," he said. "I'm one of those kids who still likes gym class."

Conover is also active in high school off the field. He's the class president, as well as a member of the student council, the Interact Club and the Students Against Destructive Decisions.

Through his involvement in the Interact Club, a community service group, Conover helps keep a section of Route 97 clean and beautiful.

"It feels good to help out the community," he said. "Education has always been important to my parents. They've always made sure I knew the value of a good education."

This past summer, he participated in a leadership conference at Messiah College in Grantham.

"It was such a great experience," Conover said. "We participated in a variety of workshops that showed us how to be peer mediators and how to get our classmates more involved in school activities. It was a lot of fun."

Even though school life keeps him busy, Conover's community involvement extends beyond academia.

Two years ago, he and four friends got involved with the Littlestown Food Pantry and have been helping out every month since.

"We originally started going because my homeroom teacher asked if we could help out one day," he said. "We liked it so much that we started going every month."

Recently, the friends collected more than 800 cans for the food pantry to help needy families in the community.

"We usually stock the shelves or carry bags of cans out to people's cars," Conover said. "It feels really good to know you're helping people."

A big role model in Conover's life is his brother Chris, who's a junior at Shippensburg University.

"He's the one who got me involved in all the clubs at school," he said. "He's a good person to look up to."

As the end of high school grows closer, Conover has his sights set on Pennsylvania State University. He was recently accepted to the school's main campus in State College, where he plans on studying political science.

"My brother told me to be prepared to study when I get to college," Conover said chuckling. "He warned me that college was completely different from high school. I can't wait. I'm ready."

When he started looking at colleges, Conover knew he wanted to attend a big school.

"The more diverse the better," he said, adding he has always wanted to enter politics.

"Maybe one day I'll be the governor," he said smiling. "You never know. Anything is possible. Ultimately, I want to keep my options open."

Contact Seth Goldstein at sgoldstein@eveningsun.com.