Poise helps Peabody’s Doonan earn Agganis scholarship

(This is the fifth in a series of articles about the Lynn-area winners of the Agganis Foundation scholarship.)Greg Doonan, who had already shown plenty of poise as a student-athlete at Peabody Veterans Memorial High School, was about to receive an impromptu lesson in that subject. On May 17, he and his older brother Patrick, a member of the graduating class at the University of Notre Dame in South Bend, Ind., sat in the school’s Joyce Center, listening to President Barack Obama deliver the commencement address. As President Obama began speaking, several people in the crowd interrupted with protests over the issue of abortion.”He didn’t get rattled at all,” said Doonan, who will attend Notre Dame this fall. “There was controversy coming in, him being pro-choice at a Catholic university. There were pro-life protests outside. A couple of people in the audience said some things, addressing I don’t know what.”He didn’t lose his composure. He openly addressed the issue of controversy. He handled it very well. His poise is the most striking thing.”It’s no surprise that Doonan noted the president’s poise. Doonan, one of this year’s Agganis Scholars, has become a bit of an expert in poise himself, having demonstrated it in many venues – academic, extracurricular, and athletic – in high school.Keeping his composureDoonan excelled in two sports at Peabody High, soccer and tennis, and said that while he loves them both, he preferred soccer. Yet his insights into tennis are more revealing.”If things are not going my way, I try not to get riled up,” Doonan said. “Even if I’m doing well, I try not to get too excited. Keep it all in perspective ? Don’t get too cocky or depressed.”Doonan has enjoyed plenty of success – mostly playing second singles – on the courts of eastern Massachusetts. Last year, he won 15 straight matches. This season, he earned victories in his first 14. His final match, against Lowell, had a bittersweet ending. He won the first set, hurt his shoulder, lost the second set, and retired.”I have no radar gun, but I’m probably pretty fast,” Doonan said. “Nothing like the pros, but I have a decent serve. I usually try to let the other kid make most of the mistakes, not take too many chances, not too many unforced errors.”This poised approach seemed to help Doonan, and his years of playing the sport also appeared beneficial. He said has played recreationally since he was seven or eight, when his father would take him to the Peabody Recreation Department courts. However, he noted, he only had one or two lessons before entering high school.”I didn’t know what to expect,” he said. “It worked out pretty well.”He also seems to have developed a positive relationship with coach Chris Vasseur, who recommended the Agganis Scholarships to Doonan, whose parents grew up in Lynn and whose paternal grandparents met Harry Agganis, the former Lynn Classical, Boston University, and Boston Red Sox star who died of a pulmonary embolism in 1955 at age 26.Room to maneuverIn addition to Doonan’s success in tennis, his four years of soccer under varsity coach Stan McKeen worked out well. In Doonan’s sophomore season, the Tanners won the Greater Boston League championship. The next year, Peabody switched to the Northeastern Conference and won the NEC title. The Tanners duplicated that feat this season.”We’ve had a pretty good amount of success for Mr. McKeen in recent years,” Doonan said.Doonan’s contributions came on defense, and his role as a stopper required some of the same poise he showed in tennis.”You’re right in the middle,” Doonan said. “You’re right behind midfield. You cover left, right, for teammates who have been beaten ? You have to be in pretty good shape.”Doonan’s skills faced a formidable test when Peabody played Lynn Classical in his first game senior year. Doonan had to cover Classical star Miguel Castro, who had won NEC/Large most valuable player honors the previous season.”It was a great challenge,” Doonan said. “It was very diff