JOHN KOVACH | Colleges Janeen Masternick leaves rich legacy at Boardman

BOARDMAN -- The Masternick family of Boardman will send its seventh sibling to college this year -- and its third to study medicine.
Janeen Masternick, the daughter of Renee and Dr. Joseph Masternick, will follow brothers Adam, Eric, Mark and Brad and sisters Trinetta and Heather into the collegiate ranks, after compiling a rich legacy of special achievement at Boardman High.
Janeen will take her soccer and academic talents to John Carroll University, after scoring a school-record 100 career goals as a forward with the Spartans' girls soccer team.
She also achieved a 4.0 grade-point average to become valedictorian of her 2003 graduation class.
In brothers' footsteps
Janeen will follow brothers Eric and Brad to John Carroll, where she will join Jennifer Sopkovich, Girard High's 2003 co-valedictorian, on the Blue Streaks' soccer team under coach Tracy Blasius. Sopkovich set a Girard record with 80 career goals and compiled a 4.5 GPA.
Eric also is in medicine and is doing his residency in podiatry at Forum Health, while Brad attended John Carroll for a year before transferring to Youngstown State where he is now a junior.
"My older brother [Eric] went there, and ever since I saw it I wanted to go there," said Janeen, whose 100 goals almost doubled the previous Boardman record of 51.
She also had 38 career assists and was selected to the All-District, All-Steel Valley Conference and All-Mahoning County first teams all four years.
"It came down to between Baldwin-Wallace and John Carroll. The deciding factor was the academic program [at John Carroll] and what my major was going to be. The soccer was secondary to that."
She said JCU "has a good science program and that added to [my interest]."
Also like sister, father
Janeen also is following her oldest sister, Trinetta, and their father into the medical profession.
Trinetta, a graduate of B-W who attended medical school at Ohio University, recently completed her residency and will be entering family practice in Clarion, Pa.
The siblings' father, a graduate of Woodrow Wilson High and Case Western Reserve University, also is in family practice as well as sports medicine. He was on the CWRU golf team.
Janeen, who made the All-Ohio Second Team in 2001 and was District Player of the Year that same season in girls soccer, said she comes from a science background.
"I grew up with it [science and medicine] and just naturally am interested in it. I am interested in science in general," said Janeen, who was selected to the All-Ohio Academic Team in 2002 and the All-SVC Academic Team in 2001 and 2002.
"You have to be dedicated [academically], and actually my freshman year, when I got all A's, I figured why stop now. That [All A's] was a goal that I set for myself after my freshman year."
Shoots with both feet
She credits her prolific goal-scoring ability to her teammates' passes, and the fact that she can shoot with both feet with accuracy and has speed.
"You can't score goals without people passing the ball to you. I had a lot of support from the other forward, Maggie Mills, and the other midfielders [Pam Prystash and sisters Brittany Sirak and Lauren Sirak] getting the ball up to me," said Janeen, who played for coaches Jason Keller and Fawzi Mujahed.
But also, "There is not a lot of lefties in high school, and I was able to shoot from my left and right foot. Most teams [defense] expect shots from their left, but I was also able to shoot from their right, and they were not expecting that.
Of course, "You have to know where to place the ball and see where the goalie is. I was able to place the ball really good.
"I have five records set at Glenwoood [Middle School] for track, so I guess I am pretty fast and was able to beat my defenders a lot."
The other siblings
Rounding out the Masternick siblings' tree:
Adam, the oldest, attended Ohio University, transferred to YSU and then graduated from Cleveland State in physical therapy. He now is in ortho-biological sales in Detroit.
Heather is a 2003 graduate of YSU and is entering pharmaceutical sales, while Mark is a senior at YSU.
Courtney, the youngest, is a senior at Boardman where she plays volleyball and throws shot and discus in track.
kovach@vindy.com