Athlete Spotlight: Casen Lawrence and Lauren Zone

Story and graphics by Tommy Briner, senior

Casen Lawrence

Casen Lawrence is a sophomore basketball player. As a second-year varsity basketball player, Casen’s goals as an athlete are completely aligned with the team.

“As a team, we want to reach the final four in state, and for myself I want to do whatever I can to help the team win,” said Casen. “That can be many different things so I just do my best to play hard and control what I can control.”

For such a young player, Casen is remarkably stable on the basketball floor. Playing guard, he’s handled the ball in the team’s biggest games and moments of the season. He does not behave like just a sophomore. He’s never been focused on himself or his own success but strives to help achieve the team’s goals.

“I love being a part of a team. It’s great to go through the good and the bad with a group so that you all feel for each other and strive for the same thing.”

As focused as Casen is on basketball, he’s also involved in other things.

“It’s easy to just get focused on basketball, especially during the season because it takes up so much time. My parents often remind me that one day I won’t be able to play basketball anymore so I want to make sure I have many other things that are important to me,” he said.

Casen is a member of the 800 Sporting staff and maintains a 3.76 grade point average.

“In school, I enjoy being around friends and learning in a fun environment. I think Westminster does a good job of making classes enjoyable and entertaining,” said Casen. “Outside of school, I am a part of FCA (Fellowship of Christan Athletes) and try to attend regularly to grow my faith. I also help with different basketball camps throughout the year where I work with younger players on their skills.”

Casen is exactly the type of player everyone wants to play with. He’s extremely talented, unselfish, and is focused only on team success. It’s only a matter of time until Casen’s good habits and strong work ethic will lead to the fulfillment of his overarching goals.

Lauren Zone

Lauren Zone is a senior swimmer and lacrosse player. Swimming is Lauren’s best sport, and she has high aspirations for her final season.

“My goal for swimming is to qualify for state in my events one last time. By working hard every day in practice to improve my times, I believe that I should be able to reach that goal,” she said.

However, like many of the other girls on the team, she participates in swimming for the great relationships that come with being on the team.

“What I love most about the swim team is the way that we all grow so close to one another throughout the season. The friendships formed on the team are ones that are seen outside of the pool too.”

Lauren is one of three captains on the team this year.

“I have had great experiences being involved in athletics at Westminster and have made some of my favorite high school memories with my teammates.”

Lauren says that what she enjoys most about school is getting to be around her friends every day. For her senior service project, Lauren has taken on the task of creating a brand new website and establishing a social media presence for a homeless shelter.

“All year, I have been creating a website for Sunshine Ministries which is a homeless shelter for men and women living in poverty in the St. Louis area,” she said.

Most students’ senior service projects are isolated to Thursday mornings, but Lauren works on her project throughout the week during her Entrepreneurship Restoration class.

“Although I do this every Thursday for my senior service project, it is also something that I work on every day. I have greatly enjoyed this project because I not only get to use my talents to benefit such an amazing organization, but also those in need in the greater St. Louis area.”

During first semester, Lauren created a website for Sunshine Ministries. This semester, she is working on creating social media to help grow Sunshine’s publicity.
Outside of just being a strong athlete, Lauren has found a great way to use her time at Westminster to make a positive impact on the community.

Thank you to the yearbook staff for the use of Lauren Zone’s picture.

Back to All Posts

You may also be interested in: