Rockland Scholar-Athlete of the Week: Myles Solan

• Solan helped the Suffern 1600-meter relay to a 2nd place finish at the Millrose Games trials
• He has a 3.97 GPA
• Solan's a member of the soccer team and spring track team
• He'll be attending Cornell University next year

Name:

Myles Solan

School: Suffern

Class: Senior

Sport: Track and field

Athletic accomplishments: On Jan. 11 at the Millrose Games trials, Solan helped the 1,600-meter relay to a second place finish in their division and a qualifying spot for the Millrose Games. At the Westchester/Rockland Dutchess Meet at Rockland CC on Jan. 4, Solan won the 55-meter dash, winning the event in 6.4 seconds, in his first try, setting a new school record. At that same meet, he won the 300-meter run and anchored the 800-meter relay. Solan will be participating with the Mounties at their league meet this Sunday. Solan's a member of the spring track team.

Academic accomplishments: Solan has a 3.97 GPA. He will be attending Cornell University next year. He's taking four AP classes, Cambridge Global Perspectives and Research, and New Visions Health Careers. Solan's an AP Scholar with Honors.

School and community involvement: After school, Solan's a member of Heroes and Cool Kids Club and Students United for Black Awareness. Independent from Suffern, Solan's participated with Jack and Jill of America Inc., Naomi's Program of Excellence and the Kappa League.

Getting to know Myles Solan

The Journal News: How's the indoor track season going?

Myles Solan: The season is going well. We've missed a lot of opportunities to get more races in because we've had a lot of snow. We had our own meet this past Friday that got canceled because of difficulties at RCC. So, it's going well but we are looking for more opportunities to get more personal bests and run faster. We've missed a lot of meets. We're looking forward to the next one.

TJN: How did you feel about the performance of the 1,600-meter relay and qualifying for the upcoming Millrose Games?

MS: That was great and it was my first time qualifying for the Millrose Games. That was a great accomplishment for us. It's great for us and we're looking forward to running that. I'm really excited. I've never been to a Millrose Games before. I'm not even sure of the atmosphere but it's another opportunity to run fast and that's what I'm looking for.

TJN: How'd the soccer season go?

MS: I thought we had a great season. We had a great regular season and we weren't able to pull it out in the postseason. There's a lot of competitiveness in Section 1 so that was expected. I was really happy with our year. We were undefeated in our league so that was really great. Since freshman year, I've been playing varsity and we were always struggling in the league so to be able to conquer that my senior year was great. To also be ranked in the state and in the section so I was really happy with that.

TJN: Are you going to continue playing sports next year in college?

MS: I committed to run track and Cornell next year. And I talked to the soccer coach just to let him make sure that he knows I'm interested if I wanted to walk on. I introduced myself so definitely track and maybe walk-on for soccer.

TJN: If you were to walk on to the soccer team, will it be hard to balance out the two team schedules?

MS: In the early stages of talking with the track coach, I talked with him and he's a really great guy. He said, I understand you're interested in soccer and because it's in the fall, that's the season winter and spring track is off. They'd be doing off-season work and he said he would have no problem with me playing on the soccer team if I made it as long as I stay healthy and stay ready. He was very understanding.

TJN: Do you know what you want to study when you get to Cornell next year?

MS: I've always been interested in medicine. I want to go the pre-med track. I'm going to major in biology.

TJN: Why biology?

MS: I figured biology just because that is the focus of medicine and I know you can go pre-med with a lot of different majors. I've always been interested in science and I love biology. I'm taking AP Biology and it's something I want to focus on in college.

TJN: What's the most memorable piece of community service work you've done?

MS: My whole family is involved in a program that's based in Rockland County called Naomi's Program of Excellence. It was started in Rockland in the 2000s. It's really special because we were a part of the first couple of years of the group and we helped to build it to where it is now. With this group, we did a lot of community service. We've linked up with Habitat for Humanity building houses in Haverstraw and the rest of the county. We do a lot of things with Black History Month, we put on a play every year, we do sing Christmas Carols door to door. I love this organization because it's so family based and based where we're from and I love that aspect of it.

The Journal News Rockland Scholar-Athlete of the Week program honors students for their academic, athletic and community achievements. Each week a winner is selected from nominees submitted by athletic directors. Only seniors can be nominated, and the award can be won only once. Nominations must be received by 5 p.m. Monday. The presenting sponsor for The Journal News Rockland Scholar-Athlete program is Gary Goldberg Financial Services.

Debbie Schechter

Twitter: @LoHud_Debbie