Juggling Act
The life of a student athlete can be a busy one. From classes and homework to practice and game day, playing a collegiate sport can keep a student’s schedule full throughout the year, potentially hindering their personal and social life.
Utah State’s Rachel Orr manages to find a balance between school, socializing and sports that works for her – and she does this while on the roster for two NCAA teams.
Now in her sophomore year, Orr is an outside hitter for the women’s volleyball team and a high jumper for the track and field team. The Thatcher, Ariz. native has earned the admiration of her peers and coaches for her ability to swing both sports.
“You never would know,” said Grayson DuBose, head women’s volleyball coach. “My thing was, ‘Hey, if you feel like you’re tired we can modify practice a little bit and do that kind of stuff,’ but she would never do that. She’s always ‘Hey, I want to practice, I want to play, I want to make sure I’m involved as much as I can be.'”
DuBose works with head track and field coach Gregg Gensel to help Orr manage both sports.
“Both of my coaches really cooperate well and they talk to each other all the time,” Orr said. “If I need to go to track this day and go to volleyball the next, they let me do what I need to do.”
According to Gensel, the seasonal difference between the two sports helps to make sure events and practices for both teams don’t overlap each other.
“The seasons don’t coincide,” he said. “It’s volleyball in the fall and track in the winter and spring, and that works out really well. When she has to do volleyball stuff we just re-arrange her schedule so she can participate.”
Orr was recruited from Thatcher High School, where she competed in both volleyball and track for all four years. As a senior she helped her team finish with a 24-1 record in volleyball and cleared 5 feet, 10 inches in the high jump. She was recruited by both DuBose and Gensel to play for the USU teams but she is here to play on a volleyball scholarship, according to Gensel.
“I was playing club volleyball and one of my coaches knew Grayson,” Orr said. “He watched some of my games, then I came up for a visit to USU and I loved it. I liked the coaches and all of the girls on the team. Logan is very pretty and has a nice campus so I decided to come up here.”
In addition to juggling volleyball and track, Orr excels off the field in her schoolwork. In April she was recognized along with 196 other USU student athletes at the Whitesides Scholar-Athlete Luncheon for posting a 3.2 grade point average, and is also Academic All-WAC student. In high school she was a member of the National Honor Society and on the school honor roll.
“She’s really got a nice balance,” DuBose said. “She understands she’s here to be a student first and an athlete second.”
Several of Orr’s teammates have also taken notice of Rachel’s dedication to schoolwork.
“She’s had a really full schedule with hard classes,” said fellow high-jumper Mariah Thompson. “She takes stuff like anatomy and physiology and I can’t imagine how she could be gone pretty much every weekend in the school year and still be succeeding in school. She must be a superhero. She must not have to sleep like the rest of us.”
“For me, one sport is hard enough,” said Josselyn White, senior outside hitter on the volleyball team. “I can’t imagine doing two. I know Rachel gets good grades and that is a testament to her work ethic, being able to maintain good academics and also being able to compete well in track and volleyball.”
Outside of sports and school, Orr is able to have a social life between her obligations. She hangs out with her roommates, who are all on the volleyball team, but said sometimes track events can get in the way.
“When I was gone for track, they were all home and they would go out and do stuff,” she said.
“I would miss some things but it really wasn’t that big of a deal. I hang out with others too but I mostly hang out with track and volleyball players.”
Orr said she does get asked on dates, but has to decline some of them.
“I do get asked on a few dates but I have to tell them ‘No I can’t go, I have a track meet,’ or whatever” she said. “It’s not too bad though.”
For the future, Orr said her goals involve graduating, winning the WAC, playing in the postseason for volleyball and making it to regionals and nationals for track. She said she hasn’t really thought about possibly continuing volleyball or track after college.
“It would be cool, of course,” she said. “Who wouldn’t want to go pro?”
Whether or not she decides to compete at the next level, Orr’s teammates look to her as a source of inspiration.
“From the first time I met Rachel she’s always had a super good attitude,” said Thompson.
“She never complains about anything and if I were in her position, I feel like I would be complaining a lot. She’s always happy and always tries her best wherever she is, and it rubs off on people.”
– ej.jungblut@gmail.com