As senior year comes to an end, so do many athletes’ careers. For one senior, this is particularly true. From running to swimming, three-sport athlete Elinor Kreisz’s variety of sports have taken weeks of preparation, and hours of competition throughout her high school career.
“I do cross country, swim and track,” Kreisz said. “[My off season is] most of the time, in between swim and track because I have the longest break, which is a month.”
Even with such a packed schedule, she’s learned how to juggle the demands of sports, school, and friends in a way that works for her all four years of high school.
“It’s really hard [to balance my life], but a lot of my friends do sports so it is very easy to work around it,” Kreisz said. “Most of the time I just have to stay up late on weekends and try to get homework done …”
Being so involved also comes with sacrifices, especially when it comes to free time.
“I give up my time and hanging out with friends … [Being busy] gets hard and I don’t have a job because I don’t have time for that,” Kreisz said. “So really your time.”
Her motivation to stay committed to three sports didn’t come out of nowhere. She’s always enjoyed being active and being part of a team environment.
“I’ve always enjoyed doing sports, and it’s just a good community aspect,” Kreisz said. “Some of my best friends have come from it, so it’s just a good time.”
Throughout her four years, each sport challenged her differently, especially when she started as a freshman.
“Track [came the most natural], just because cross country had longer distances that took a while to get used to,” Kreisz said. “And swimming was hard because I’ve never swam competitively before, so that was a struggle learning all of the strokes.”
Despite the challenges, her sports have given her something she’ll take with her far after graduation.
“Being here [at Oakville] definitely [gave me] friends, a sense of community and belonging.”
Out of all her memories during her three sports, one sticks out the most.
“In between swimming and track training, Sammie Cook (11) and I went on a run and it was storming on us while we were at Cliff Cave …” Kreisz said, “and we got really muddy and gross, but it was really fun.”
While Kreisz is happy to have made close friends and good memories, she is sad she isn’t continuing her sports competitively in college.
“It’s kind of sad because like I’ve never not done any [sports] and it’s a really big change, but I’m also really happy to have more time and not having to worry about the stress and not getting sweaty and gross every day,” Kreisz said.
Fortunately, she still plans on staying active.
“Sammie Cook (11) and I were wanting to run the Disney marathon next year, so hopefully we will be able to train for that.”
