Moore Athletes - Isabelle “Izzy” Bonillo
Moore Athletes - Isabelle “Izzy” Bonillo
Our Moore Athletes for March is Union Pines senior Isabelle “Izzy” Bonillo. Izzy is a four-year varsity lacrosse goalie.
Izzy has played different sports most of her life but credits her mom for picking up the lacrosse stick. “At freshman orientation, if she hadn’t had me go over to the club’s, I wouldn’t have,” said Izzy. “I wouldn’t have known about lacrosse. I saw the lacrosse and thought that looks interesting. She told me to sign it and I didn’t really want to. She told me to just do it and see what it’s like. So, I did.”
It took a few weeks for Izzy to find that the goalie position was a good fit for her. After trying other positions, she was ready to quit when a coach suggested the goalie position. She quickly found that she loved the position and the sport. The first two seasons she saved nearly have of the shots that came her way.
Last season she didn’t have as many saves. “It felt the ball never came down to my end,” said Izzy. “The entire season I felt like I wasn’t doing anything my team was so good that it felt like I never had the ball come down my way.”
Izzy entered the season with a career 269 and her personal goal is to have 300 saves. She is also looking forward to assisting in preparing a goalie to take her position when she graduates.
The Vikings won the State Championship in their undefeated season last year. “Last season was so much fun,” said Izzy. “Last season was about the teamwork if someone made a mistake, nobody got mad,” said Izzy. “That was the one thing that made our team different. We would help each other instead of tearing each other down.”
Sports can often be an outlet for athletes to help them get through different things they are going through. Lacrosse became an outlet and just what Izzy needed during a hard time. Her freshman year Izzy was battling depression, and the sport and her coaches played a role during that time. “If lacrosse wasn’t in my life, I probably wouldn’t have made it, lacrosse gave me that outlet and it still does,” said Izzy. “It gave me that outlet to go to after school every day to yell, to play, and to get all that energy out and then I’ll go home. Last year my panic attacks were super bad, especially the beginning of the season when transitioning back to playing. My coaches completely helped me through it. They didn’t like to make me feel bad about it. They had me step out and helped me regulate them with breathing.”
In school Izzy is a straight A student with a 3.9 GPA. In the fall she will be attending Bryan Athyn College in Pennsylvania where she will play lacrosse. She will also study anthropology and hopes with a degree she will work in a museum and do field studies.
The Vikings are currently in their lacrosse season as defending State Champions. You can visit Moore Daily Sports to see their schedule to support Izzy and the Vikings.
Written by Curtis Self. Photo by Lora Stubenvoll.
If you have a student athlete that should be highlighted for April’s Moore Athletes segment you can submit a form by following the link. www.mooredailysports.com
This article is sponsored by the Sandhills Bogeys. The Bogeys season begins at home on May 29th. We are proud to partner with the Bogeys this season.
