410 Forum — Sports
All In A Day’s Work
By Chelsie Luhring
the rest of the campus seemed eerily quiet with only a handful of students in sight, while one chipper student journeyed on to class, chatting away as the faint morning light glinted off the top of Ross Hall.
It was 7:50 a.m., and this is just another day for a University of Northern Colorado student-athlete Jenny Whateley.
Being a freshman from Surrey, England, college in America for Whateley is a new environment. But being a freshman from England and a student-athlete in season just makes things more complicated and calls for an exhausting schedule. And so goes the spring semester for Whateley.
Her morning math class commences at 8:00 a.m. Strolling in at 7:55, she sits down in the very back row of the classroom, folds her arms and waits patiently for the professor to arrive. He enters the room promptly at 8 a.m. and begins inscribing notes onto the black chalkboard. Reminding herself class is in session, she bolts upright and starts taking notes.
After math, looking less chipper and on her way to the second class, Scientific Writing, she trips on the sidewalk, laughs nervously, complains about her tiredness and continues walking.
Upon entering into Scientific Writing, she scans the room looking for open seats. She makes her way toward the back of the classroom, slides a rolling chair toward her, and sits down. It’s not long before the professor enters the room and instructs students to correct papers. While correcting papers, the professor begins lecturing about the “importance of not failing.” Unfortunately, every student’s head in the classroom is bent down correcting papers and using her voice as background noise.
As the class concludes its session, students empty the room hurriedly. Whateley grabs her backpack and saunters out the door. She has two classes down and two to go. Not to mention lifting weights and tennis practice, followed by a match against Air Force the next day.
Even though Whateley lives a hectic life, she seems to take things as they come and not get too riled. She acknowledges that she has a full schedule, but says, “I do my work better when I have less time.”
Her teammates share similar experiences as her in managing tennis and schooling.
“Missing classes when traveling is the worst because you’re always a little behind when you come back, no matter what,” said teammate Luiza Xavier.
Manu Santos, a senior on the team, understands first-hand the importance of managing time wisely. She says that even as a senior, although the schedule is more habit, the classes are still challenging and shouldn’t be taken lightly. She warns freshman student-athletes to be particularly aware of this.
“Go to class because most freshmen don’t go to class because they think it’s like high school,” Santos said.
After four classes, dressed in a UNC tennis t-shirt, blue shorts and white tennis shoes with her ponytail full of brown hair whipping in the wind, Whateley sprints off toward Butler Hancock, managing to arrive at the weight room at 1:20 p.m., ten minutes before the start of the weight lifting routine with her teammates. She is breathing heavily and beads of sweat run down her forehead. There is not much time to waste though, as her weight instructor enters the room and begins warming up the women’s tennis team.
Practice is next at the Work Out West tennis center. Today the focus is on hitting and placement; nothing too strenuous takes place because the team is preparing for their upcoming match against Air Force.
After rounds and rounds of rallies, practice comes to an end. Whateley is joined on the center court with her teammates circled around their head coach. Her coach reminds the team members of the importance of the match tomorrow and how they must be “up for the competition.”
“Being a student-athlete isn’t always fun, but at the end of each day you remember you still get to do what you love,” Whateley said.
This is the routine of student-athletes; classes, workouts and practice. But the most beneficial part is competing in their sport. The coach’s speech ends and the women’s tennis team walks off of the blue courts and heads toward to exit. Whateley grabs her bulging black and white Wilson tennis bag, shoves her racket inside and strolls off the court. She is leaving and heading back to the dorms where homework awaits her, merciless, just like her rivals on the court for tomorrow.
UNC's Women's Tennis
• 2009 Roster
Jenny Whateley, freshman, Surrey, England
Jill Kappel, freshman, Honolulu
Jody Ciarvella, sophomore, Denver
Hannah LaForest, junior, Greeley
Luiza Xavier, junior, Florianapolis, Brazil
Tabatha Knop, senior, Colorado Springs
Tiffany Knop, senior, Colorado Springs
Manu Santos, senior, Itajai, Brazil
• Record: 7-15 in overall matches and 4-4 in conference play. They played in the Big Sky Conference tournament but lost to Sacramento State, the eventual touranment winner.
• Tennis term: Lob. When a tennis ball is returned high over the net and over the head of the opponent, and in many cases, out of reach of him/her, it is considered lobbed.
Source: UNC Women's Tennis Web site.
