NORTH SHORE – Standouts in both the classroom and their respective athletic endeavors, volleyball standout Grace Leete of Danvers High School and Johancy Santana, a soccer star for Salem Academy Charter School, have been honored as the Moynihan Lumber Student-Athletes of the Month for October.
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Grace Leete – Danvers High School
Johancy Santana – Salem Academy
Grace Leete, Danvers
Grace, a libero for the Falcons, served as a junior captain this fall and guided her team to its third straight Northeastern Conference championship, finishing 15-0 in league play. She was named NEC Player of the Year — a goal she had set for herself prior to the start of the season — and led Danvers to the Division 2 North final in the state playoffs.
“I set small goals for myself to achieve my one big goal, which I was able to do,” said Grace. “Little things, like making sure my serving percentage went up and my ace percentage went up, helped me reach that goal.
“Volleyball is such a team sport that when your team works together, your individual self gets better.”
A three-year starter who has been a part of 30-plus consecutive wins in NEC competition, Grace had 18 digs against Bishop Fenwick and 21 in a remarkable outing against Lynnfield. She led the Blue-and-White in total aces and served at 94 percent, with a 23 percent ace percentage.
Because of both the position she plays and her team’s strength in blocking, Grace’s stats might not be as gaudy as some others. But her passing stats of 2.42 in the regular season and 2.53 in the state playoffs in serve receive are a huge reason why her coach, George LeVasseur, refers to her as not only “by far the most important player on our team this year, (but) in my opinion, the best player in the NEC.”
“This season was amazing, a phenomenal shocker to me,” said the 16-year-old Grace. “As the only returning starter, I wasn’t sure how the season would go. And being a junior captain, I was a little nervous at first with how to deal with everything. But after I bit I just said ‘let’s just play our game’, and it worked out very, very well for our entire team.”
Grace sports an outstanding 4.0 grade point average and serves as the junior class secretary at DHS. She is also a member of Model UN and lists Legal Issues, AP US History and AP Government and Politics among her favorite classes.
“I think you learn from sports how to manage your time well,” she said. “Whether it’s meeting teachers after school with questions you might have, helping others with their homework, properly preparing for midterms and final exams … making sure you’re organized is the key.”
She also gets great satisfaction assisting with the school’s Best Buddies Program. “You get to help kids that have trouble interacting with other people. You see them at lunch and their whole face lights up … and it makes your day,” she said.
Grace is interested in American University and Howard University (both in Washington, D.C), as well as Marist (N.Y.) College, all of which have Division 1 volleyball programs. She’d like to continue her studies in history as well.
Johancy Santana, Salem Academy
Johancy, a senior goaltender for Salem Academy, was a standout in goal throughout the fall. He led his club to the Massachusetts Charter School Athletic Association (MCSAO) championship game, finishing the season with an 11-6-3 record.
With seven shutouts this season, the 17-year-old finished as Salem Academy’s all-time leader in that department, both for a single season and for his career. The 5-foot-7, 155-pounder’s best performance came in the MCSAO playoff semifinals against Excel Academy, when he turned away five terrific scoring opportunities in a 3-0 victory for his Navigators.
Making the senior’s accomplishments that much more remarkable is that didn’t even start playing soccer until he was a sophomore.
“I’ve never really been good with my feet, so the fact that I can use my hands in goal makes it a whole lot easier,” said Johancy, who is also a captain for the Salem Academy baseball team as its shortstop.
“In baseball, you’re taught to keep the ball in front of you defensively … and it’s like that for me as a goalie.”
Making his terrific showing this season that much more impressive is the fact that Johancy bounced back from suffering a torn anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) last winter.
Born in the Bronx and moving with his family to Salem at age 6, Johancy said the atmosphere at Salem Academy and the willingness of teachers to help students during and after school make it an excellent environment for studies. The same holds true athletically, he noted, thanks to coaches like Brian Lee for soccer and Drew Betts (who doubles as the school’s athletic director) in baseball.
Taking five Advanced Placement classes while additionally involved in some dual enrollment classes at Salem State University, Johancy is vying to become class valedictorian and carries a 4.45 grade point average. His favorite class is AP Psychology, “because we get to run experiments on each other and the teachers, like trying to hypnotize them. It’s a lot of fun,” he said.
In addition, Johancy is also in the running for the prestigious QuestBridge Scholarship, which recognizes academic excellence and provides students a full tuition scholarship to an Ivy League school. He was nominated by his teachers for the scholarship and went through a rigorous application process before he was chosen; now, one of the Ivies will select him.
“You rank the schools in order of which you’d like to go to most, but ultimately you don’t know which one will choose you,” said Johancy, who wants to study medicine and hopes to continue his baseball career in college. “It’s scary, but exciting at the same time.”
