The yellow Livestrong wristband on Neil’s wrist is a tip-off to the kind of young man he is. Seven-time Tour de France cycling champion Lance Armstrong created the wristband to raise money for cancer research and encourage people to live full, healthy lives. Neil exudes this same kind of ethic in the GCS school community. He’s a genuinely nice young man who is not afraid to “dream big” and is happy to contribute to the benefit of others. At the same time, he pursues personal standards of excellence in his academic and athletic pursuits.

Neil ranks 3rd in the senior class, with a 94.54 grade point average. He scored a 100 on the Math A Regents test and has higher than a 96 average on the three Regents tests in English and social studies. In June, he will graduate with an Advanced Regents Diploma with Honors. As secretary of the National Honor Society, he has been particularly active in organizing and contributing to charitable events, including the Red Cross blood drive, Breakfast With Santa, Relay for Life and delivering Thanksgiving meals to families in need.

In athletics, as in the classroom, Neil has combined talent with focused, hard work to attain outstanding results. He is a Post Star “honorable mention” defensive end on the football team, a starter in basketball and is one of the top baseball pitchers in the Capital District. Mr. Duke Beck, Neil’s basketball and baseball coach and advanced physical education teacher describes him as “…a completely reliable athlete. He’s as hard a worker as I have coached. He’s great in class, working on agility, speed and strength training and in practice he does everything I ask and more. He runs on his own and has worked with independent pitching coaches on weekends. He’s dramatically improved his athleticism and skills.”

Neil was the GCS varsity baseball MVP in 2009 and went on to pitch summer baseball for the Saratoga Stampede and win another MVP award and a State Junior American Legion Baseball. title. The present basketball season is also Neil’s preseason in baseball. On free days, he is working with Atlanta Braves scout John Stewart on pitching mechanics. Baseball coaches from NCAA Division I Siena College have shown interest in Neil and he has been accepted for admission.

              Taking it to the rack for two

Talking with Neil is a refreshing experience. Despite the fullness of his life and his seriousness of purpose, there is a brimming lightness to the range a possibilities he considers for his future “I don’t know what I want to do yet…I’d really like a career in baseball…or maybe I’ll become an airline pilot.” For Neil, neither possibility is out of reach.

Neil is the son of William and Gail Fryer, of Greenwich. His sister, Pamela Fryer, is a 2005 GCS graduate.