By Sam Bernardi | Posted December 18, 2025
Each month, Montgomery High School Athletic Director Kris Grundy polls local coaches to select a female and male scholar athlete to spotlight on this page. In addition to a feature article, each athlete receives gift certificate to The Tiger’s Tale.
Tongxin “Coco” Xiao did not speak any English when she arrived in the United States from China in 2019. It was not an accelerated process.
Xiao, facing a move across the world and COVID, took a while to find her voice in Montgomery. Eventually, she did.
As a senior, she was the first singles player for head coach Sejal Rana’s varsity team. “Tennis definitely helped me to make a lot of friends,” Xiao said.
“… [Tennis] is kind of like a communication [tool] to make friends.”
"Especially this year, I feel like the team is more like a family,” Xiao said. “… We just communicate with each other. We talk about our daily lives, we talk about all the problems we’re facing, and want to always give some advice for, ‘How do you fix this problem?’”
As for the game, Xiao says: “I don’t need to focus on the result that much. I need to focus on the process. The process makes me happy, not the result,” Xiao said.
Coach Rana says, “Coco is going to do great things. I know she is because she is a hard worker, and she is very strategic, and she’s very wise.”
Xiao expects to continue playing tennis, whether or not that is at a varsity level next year.
She does know she wants to study dentistry eventually and would like to attend Bryn Mawr College.
For three years, Daniel Leopold competed for Montgomery’s cross-country team. He had been a trusted runner of head coach Tim Bartholomew’s squad, but things changed drastically his senior year.
“Daniel’s a great kid, obviously,” Bartholomew said. “… I always knew there was a possibility he’d be in our top five because he’s definitely got the talent. But when he came in from August, he was in great shape. You could just continually see him get better as the season progressed.”
“This year it kind of clicked, I think,” Bartholomew added.
Leopold was routinely a top-five finisher, elevating himself to the inner circle of varsity participants. He has been running since fifth grade, with a tennis stint and an ongoing golf career in the mix, too.
Now, he can claim that he shaved a minute off his 5k time in just one campaign.
Much of that progress came from long hours in the weight room. He was always invested as a runner, but knew to take his game to the next level he would need to heed the advice of his coaches and take off-course training far more seriously.
Leopold was the leader in the gym that Bartholomew needed. He did not need extra direction or advice, he simply knew to take charge. “I’ve learned a lot of life skills in terms of perseverance, grit, and staying dedicated to cross-country, as well,” Leopold said.
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