NOCTILUCA June 2016

SPORTS

Appleton, Wisconsin June 2016 Vol. XXI

Issue III

Page 11

In today’s busy society

teenagers encounter many op-

portunities. From serving as

club leader to playing on the

basketball team it’s clear that

there are many ways to be ac-

tive in the North community.

But what happens after high

school? Do their roles con-

tinue? How do they continue?

How are they different? The

Noctiluca sat down with Class

of 2014 graduates Elizabeth

Floodstrand and Austin Nel-

son.

To begin, both were active

in their school community.

Floodstrand was a

Noctiluca

Photography editor and an

avid orchestra member while

Nelson was an active member

of National Honors Society,

DECA, and Link Crew.

Despite their active roles

in the school, they managed

to continue their athletic capa-

bilities. Floodstrand, a softball

athlete, and Nelson, a volley-

ball and basketball athlete in

high school, kept up with the

coursework and the demands

in the gym.

While they both have differ-

ent academic interests, Flood-

strand, a social work major at

Ripon College, and Nelson, an

Economic major at Virginia

University, they both fit ath-

letics into their busy college

schedule.

So what exactly are their

roles in athletics in college? “I

am a student manager for the

University of Virginia men’s

basketball team. I help set up

for practice, participate in cer-

tain drills, and help in the of-

fice,” he said.

Floodstrand explained her

position on Rippon College’s

softball team, “I’m a desig-

nated hitter and first baseman.

I also work with the school’s

mascot, Rally the Red Hawk.”

According to the National

Collegiate Athletic Associa-

tion website the odds of an in-

dividual continuing their sport

is nearly one in six individuals.

With the higher workload, in-

creased pressures, and stress

among other challenges of the

college atmosphere, why did

they decide to continue?

“Sports were a very influen-

tial part of my life, and when

I realized I had an opportunity

to continue working with bas-

ketball, I jumped at it,” Nelson

said.

For Floodstrand, her path

was different and a bit rocky.

“I wasn’t going to play soft-

ball at first and I took a year

off from playing the game, but

my life wasn’t the same with-

out it so I went back to it and I

wasn’t disappointed.”

Continuing their roles in

college athletics does not give

them any opportunity to slack

off. College requires more re-

sponsibility and overall man-

agement. High school has a

more structured routine. Be-

ing able to balance academic

responsibilities and athletic

responsibilities is not always

easy.

Floodstrand strongly agrees.

“For away games we end up

traveling pretty far some-

times which cuts into a lot of

academic time so it was re-

ally important to keep on top

of all of the class work which

meant playing a lot of catch up

on class notes, keeping strong

line of communication with

professors and doing a lot of

homework on the bus!”

Nelson agrees as well.

“Athletics are year-round in

college, and there tend to be

more instances where athletics

interfere with your academic

responsibilities like going

to away games and missing

classes where you then have

to make up the work that you

missed.” While they might not

miss the early morning weight

sessions, NASSA, and other

season responsibilities in high

school; they do miss some

aspects and areas from high

school.

Nelson misses the team at-

mosphere. “Being a part of a

team where everyone shares

your goals and having the op-

portunity to play the sports

you love in your free time,”

said Nelson.

Floodstrand also misses the

team atmosphere. “From high

school, I really miss the atmo-

sphere and how close almost

all of the schools are, the far-

thest bus drive we ever had to

take was Fond du Lac, but now

we have played in Iowa and Il-

linois that seemingly take for-

ever to get to sometimes.”

Throughout their experienc-

es in college, memories have

been an ever going process.

When asked about what their

favorite memory has been thus

far they did not shy away from

the opportunity. As a team

manager at Virginia, Austin

recalls his favorite to be,

Elizabeth Floodstrand plays first base for Ripon College.

She enjoys the aspects of balancing academics and ath-

letics even though it can be challenging.

Photo Courtesy of

Elizabeth Floodstrand

4. What is your favorite

sport?

Meet the athletes of the year

Sophomore Kari Brekke

Senior Bo Babich

I enjoy them both, but as of

now track has the slight ad-

vantage.

5. How do you manage

your schedule of class

work and sports?

I manage it by doing school

work during lunch and right

away at home when I come

from practice. For sports

the coach pretty much has

the practice after school but

some days we have an early

morning practice or lift, so I

have to cut a little bit of time

off from sleeping.

6. For the young kids ou

there, what is one piece of

advice that you’d like to

give to them?

Be grateful for the opportu-

nity to play sports at ANY

level. It’s important to put

things in perspective and

realize there’s more to life

than wins and loses.

1. When did you start

playing sports?

I started track in 7th grade

at Wilson Middle School.

I started to play football

when I was 8 for Pop

Warner.

2. What do you love

most about sports?

I love the team aspect and

most of all the competi-

tion.

3. What is your favor-

ite sports memory this

year?

My favorite sports mo-

ment for football was

competing in the Kimber-

ly game my senior year

and in the Hudson playoff

game my Junior year. For

track it was competing at

state the past two years.

4. What is your favorite

sport?

Kari Brekke.

Photo by Alex

Neumann

Bo Babich.

Photo by Alex

Neumann

1. When did you start

playing sports?

I started playing basket-

ball

when I was 6 years old,

and I started track this

year as a sophomore.

2. What do you love

most about sports?

My favorite thing about

sports is building rela-

tionships with my team-

mates, and having suc-

cess with them.

What is your favor-

ite sports memory this

year?

My favorite sports mo-

ment this year was when

we beat Marshfield in the

Sectional Final. It was

a great feeling cutting

down the net and going to

State.

4. What is your favor-

ite sport?

Basketball. (Ball is life)

By AJ Floodstrand

5. How do you manage

your schedule of class

work and sports?

I get a majority of my

homework and studying

completed during the day

which is extremely impor-

tant when I have multiple

practices after school. I

also save watching The

Office for weekends.

6. For the young kids out

there, what is one piece

of advice that you’d like

to give to them?

Be grateful for the op-

portunity to play sports at

ANY level. It’s important

to put things in perspec-

tive and realize there’s

more to life than wins and

loses.

North alumni reflect on their current and future endeavors

“Sports were a very

influential part of

my life, and when I

realized I had an op-

portunity to continue

working with basket-

ball, I jumped at it.”

- Austin Nelson

See

Floodstrand

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