{"id":13495,"date":"2025-04-24T08:00:00","date_gmt":"2025-04-24T08:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/wordpress.lvc.edu\/wordpress\/lavie\/?p=13495"},"modified":"2025-10-27T19:53:14","modified_gmt":"2025-10-27T19:53:14","slug":"aonghas-evanicks-comeback-story","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wordpress.lvc.edu\/lavie\/2025\/04\/24\/aonghas-evanicks-comeback-story\/","title":{"rendered":"Aonghas Evanick’s comeback story"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

(By Maddy Gronback \u201926, special contributor)  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Everyone loves a comeback story. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

But what if it isn\u2019t really a comeback, but just a new mountain to climb on the roadmap of a career? Aonghas Evanick doesn\u2019t believe in comebacks, but he doesn\u2019t believe in setbacks, either. They are just new challenges waiting to be conquered. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Evanick started his college experience at Wilkes University, where he committed to play football. After the fall semester of his first year, he decided that his \u201cvalues and personality didn\u2019t align with the sports team,\u201d and he entered the transfer portal. He decided to transfer to Lebanon Valley College, where he would play football and join the track team. Little did he know, he would find his home away from home, and new family. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

His sophomore year, he was already close with the football team. They immediately clicked. However, he faced yet another challenge when he tore his ACL early in the football season. Injuries are hard at any time, but coming back to play at the collegiate level is one of the toughest things a student-athlete can go through, both physically and mentally.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI was motivated by my love for fitness, the sports themselves and the challenge,\u201d Evanick said. \u201cThere was never a doubt in my mind that I would be back.\u201d  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Though the journey was hard, the defensive lineman pushed himself every day to return to the field the following season.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI didn\u2019t want it to define me or my athletic career, and chose to put in the hard work,\u201d he said.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

He was finally able to play alongside the people he had considered his family, and they supported him every step of the way.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI think the atmosphere of LVC sports is competitive, yet welcoming,\u201d he said, describing both of his teams. \u201cThe team culture displayed throughout LVC athletics is a testament to the hardworking and academically-driven athletes on campus.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Fighting an injury is hard enough on its own, but fighting to come back to two sports is even more taxing on the body. However, Evanick was more than thrilled to be returning to his busy, constant \u201cin-season\u201d style of life.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cBeing on two teams offers me a great off-ramp to burning out in just one sport,\u201d he said. \u201cI enjoy never having an off season and switching back and forth from sport to sport. It always keeps the competition fresh.\u201d  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

And though his two sports are almost nothing alike, going from defensive line to throwing has its pros. \u201cThey complement each other through varied means of team, individual, physical and mental aspects,\u201d he explained. But his schedule comes with its challenges. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cAfter practice signifies the end of the day for me, my time to rest up,\u201d said Evanick. \u201cWhich means all other times, especially the weekend, is go time.\u201d  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

While most might find this to be stressful, it fuels his academic side of life. \u201cI like being kept constantly busy and having such limited time. It makes it easier to hit deadlines,\u201d he said.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Two true years on the field and track as a Dutchmen were not enough for Evanick, though, as he will utilize his red-shirt year next season for both of his sports.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI will never get this opportunity again,\u201d Evanick said. \u201cI have the next forty years to work, but I will never be able to be surrounded by my team, my friends and my LVC family again.\u201d  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

As he heads into his spring track season, he has also been nominated captain for next year\u2019s football squad, a true testament to what he has brought to the program.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThese four years have been the most formative to my character, and having the opportunity to take one more is a blessing,\u201d Evanick said.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Through all the roadblocks, obstacles and curveballs, Evanick stayed positive through it all, looking at every day as a new challenge he was ready to face.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI enjoy working towards things in life, and overcoming the ACL tear was the perfect opportunity to overcome a new challenge,\u201d he said.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

This challenge turned out to give him the greatest reward. <\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

(By Maddy Gronback \u201926, special contributor)   Everyone loves a comeback story.  But what if it isn\u2019t really a comeback, but just a new mountain to climb on the roadmap of a career? Aonghas Evanick doesn\u2019t […]<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":15937,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":true,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5,7,4],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-13495","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-features","8":"category-front-page","9":"category-sports"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/wordpress.lvc.edu\/lavie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13495","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/wordpress.lvc.edu\/lavie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/wordpress.lvc.edu\/lavie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wordpress.lvc.edu\/lavie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wordpress.lvc.edu\/lavie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=13495"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/wordpress.lvc.edu\/lavie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13495\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":15221,"href":"https:\/\/wordpress.lvc.edu\/lavie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13495\/revisions\/15221"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wordpress.lvc.edu\/lavie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/15937"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/wordpress.lvc.edu\/lavie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=13495"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wordpress.lvc.edu\/lavie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=13495"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wordpress.lvc.edu\/lavie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=13495"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}