Taekwondo might have been Tiger An‘s first love, but he isn’t ready to walk away from football just yet.
The Eagle-Tribune All-Star Windham High running back will be continue his football career at Assumption College in Worcester, he has announced on “X” — the platform formally known as Twitter.
“(I’m) committing to (Assumption) to chase my dreams both on the field and in the classroom!” said An. “Balancing academics, taekwondo, and football is a challenge, but I’m determined to multitask and open doors to endless opportunities.”
An — a 5-foot-8, 212-pound relentless battering ram with impressive speed — is coming off a monster senior season for Windham.
This past fall, An rushed for 1,116 yards — fourth in the region — on 224 carries and scored 13 touchdowns. He ran for 177 yards and two TDs against Salem, 186 yards and two TDs vs. Manchester Central and 132 yards and two TDs in a win over Malden Catholic.
A three-year starter, he ran for 746 yards and scored 12 touchdowns as a junior. He also excelled as a linebacker — and lists nose guard and defensive tackle as alternate positions on his recruiting page.
“(Tiger is) one of the hardest workers and best people we’ve ever had,” said Jags head coach Jack Byrne.” I got to coach Tiger as an elementary school kid when we started our summer camps back in the day, and I’m so proud to see the long road of hard work pay off for a great kid! Go Greyhounds!”
An is also an accomplished martial artist in Taekwondo, which he has studied since he was 3-years-old. His late grandfather Nam An — whose nickname was “Tiger” — founded Tiger An’s Taekwondo in Lowell in 1979. One of the current grand masters is Tiger’s father Richard.
The 2023 Assumption football roster featured just a single local, senior defensive lineman Brandon Santell from Lawrence. The former Eagle-Tribune All-Star had 46 tackles, six sacks and two forced fumbles in the fall, and 103 tackles and 13.5 sacks in three seasons.
Lawrence’s Gonzalez to prep school
After a winter that was derailed by injury, Lawrence’s Igor Gonzalez will take another year to build his college basketball resume.
The 6-foot-8 Lancer big man will play a postgraduate year at the Darrow School (New Lebanon, N.Y.) he announced on X.
“I would like to thank my family, my coaches at Lawrence and all the schools who recruited me,” said Gonzalez on ‘X’. “ I will be reclassifying into the class of 2025 and am going to play for coach (Antonio Anderson) at the Darrow School next year! Couldn’t be happier for the opportunity!”
Anderson, Darrow’s head coach, starred for Lynn Tech and the University of Memphis — where he played for John Calipari — and played professionally in the NBA and NBA G-League.
Gonzalez was off to a strong start this winter, before suffering an injury against Lowell in late January. He didn’t return until the Lancers’ Division 1 Round of 16 win over Central Catholic more than a month later.
“Go time Igor!” Lawrence basketball wrote on its official ‘X’ page (@lawrenceboysbb). Coach (Anderson) is getting a steal! (Igor’s) in store for a great year and will open coaches eyes at the next level! Happy for you and time for you to continue growing! Congrats.”
Golden Warriors in college
Andover High assistant football coach Shawn Theriault posted a very impressive list of Golden Warrior football players that have played college football — or seniors this year that will — in the past 13 years on his “X” page.
In all, 52 athletes were listed as having played college football, with eight more seniors heading to college sports. Those included 20 Division 1 players, and 32 Division 2 or 3 players.
Highlights include former Brown record-setter E.J. Perry IV, currently of the UFL’s Michigan Panthers, current Yale University starting kicker Shamus Florio and former Bentley and Merrimack College QB C.J. Scarpa.
Quarm blazing trail
I found it interesting, while doing the research, that Methuen High sophomore sprinter Lauren Quarm was the first Ranger to be named Eagle-Tribune girls indoor track MVP since the award was introduced in 1990.
The Rangers, after all, are a consistently strong program.
In outdoor track, two girls have won Eagle-Tribune MVP. Wileshka Samuel won it three times (2014-16), while Monica Baker won it once. Quarm is now taking down Samuel’s records.
On the boys side, one Ranger has taken Eagle-Tribune boys indoor track MVP, and Mike O’Donnell did it twice (2012-13). Outdoors, Methuen has been well represented. Rangers to earn the honor include Darwin Jimenez last year, Olympian Sean Furey (2000), Roan Marcano (2019), O’Donnell (2013) and Dave Shaw (1981 co-MVP).
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