Tell Me About Varsity

Talking about Varsity Volleyball with Lauren Breckon

BillyS, Online Editor

The wane of an alarm is heard and the sheets on the bed rustle. Out steps Lauren Breckon. Her eyes are still closed as she wanders around her room preparing for the day. It is 5 am.

Her routine every morning consisted of waking up early, going to practice early and staying at practice until after the first period bell. Every day striving for athletic excellence and after the bell rings, striving for academic excellence.

“You’re basically rushing to class after you finish because they don’t give you a lot of time to get dressed,” Breckon said.

Every year players have to re-tryout for the team. No player is guaranteed a spot on the team and it forces players who want to make the team bad enough to train year round to stay in shape. This non guarantee of making the team helps create a better team overall by taking only the best, not just who was there last year.

“We have to run three 400 [meters] in under a minute thirty, then three 200 [meters] under 40 seconds and three 100 [meters] under 20 seconds, We do that two days in a row.”

Following her desire for a spot on varsity, Breckon trained hard and often, with practice nearly every day she wore herself as tired as she could.

“She’s a super hard worker,” volleyball coach Ashley Ahlfinger said.

Breckon was staying late and arriving early to her morning practices and still able to get her homework done successfully, something most athletes will agree is a difficult task. Especially athletes in sports that require extended amounts of practice to be competitive in.

You’re looked at as a leader by a lot of the girls and the coaches have a lot of respect for their seniors

— Lauren Breckon

“How she lives her life and how she says she lives her life are the same,” Ahlfinger said. “She has extremely high expectations.”

Fast forward four years and you will still find Lauren in the second gym working with her team and leading them in practice both physically and mentally, helping others up and taking extra reps to get better each day.

“You’re looked at as a leader by a lot of the girls and the coaches have a lot of respect for their seniors,” Breckon said.

Rihanna blares in a white and red gymnasium filled with boyfriends and parents as the volleyball team warms up for their match against Jersey Village. An attempt to get the team pumped and ready to take on a tall and athletic team of Jersey Village Falcons. The gleam from the standard overhead gym lights blinds some of the spectators. After the national anthem is sung, the game begins and the crowd cheers in rhythm with the direction of the WildThings as they conduct.

Lauren is seen as a source of motivation and a source of inspiration. Every day she works with her team to strengthen them and become the best team that they can.

“She’s a really good leader, so we all respect her,” varsity teammate Paige Sebesta said.”We’ve gotten really close this year as teammates and as friends off the court.”