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Show SUSC's Smith gives 'em all a try I 'Ho 1 l I K. S So far, Natalie has earned four SUSC letters in volleyball. She has already collected three letters for basketball, and she has earned a fourth. Currently, she 'plans to play another year of Softball for the Thun-derbirds; Thun-derbirds; it will be her fourth year in the sport. That adds up to a total of 12 letter awards, unless an injury prevents soft-ball soft-ball competition. "Natalie has been an outstanding athlete for us,'! Joy Peterson, SUSC women's basketball and volleyball coach, says. "She's coachable and talented, and smart and very competitive." Although individual honors have been few, Natalie has been a starter and regular on nearly every team with which she has played. She was named NAIA District Seven honorable mention in volleyball. "Her value is in her ability to play with the team and to help build team unity both on and off the court or the field," Peterson indicates. The magnitude of Natalie's accomplishments ac-complishments takes on new meaning after a look at her grade point average and the number of hours she devotes to athletic activity. The ' former Ben Lomond student carries a 3.4 GPA. Ever1 since her arrival on campus in mid-August mid-August four years ago, Natalie has spent an average of just over two hours per day in practice for one of her three sports. On top of the practice time comes the actual competition, with half of that on the road, which means untold hours in a van across Arizona, New Mexico, Colorado, and Utah. "I love to travel," Natalie smiles. "Most athletes don't enjoy all those hours on the road, but I like to see the country. Sometimes, we all get a little tired of the same company." The trips are long: for example, it's a 14-hour drive to Southern Colorado (Pueblo) and a 12-hour drive to Regis and Colorado Mines (the Denver area). "Quite often after a game, we'll dress and drive all night to get home in time for classes at eight the next morning." Natalie doesn't waste all those travel hours; "I study and read every minute I can on the van and in the motels," she says, which helps explain her good grade point average. Because of the overlap of the volleyball, basketball, and Softball seasons at SUSC, there hasn't been a time in Natalie's college career that she wasn't in training for at least one sport. "I just got used to it, and now practice is part of my routine. I'm not sure what I'd do with those two hours, if there wasn't some sort of practice to attend," she explains. She plans to coach and teach mathematics; her major is physical education, and her minor is math. She'll go anywhere to meet her goal. Natalie's favorite sport is "probably basketball, I think. I love the fast break, and it's such an individualized sport. Volleyball is different. So much depends on the way the team molds together and plays together." Natalie figures that all of her playing experience will make her a much better coach. "Over the years, I've faced an awfully lot of different situations, and I've had to execute the plays rather than just watch them, and that should help make me a better coach." 1 : During her years at SUSC, Natalie' has played on three Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference championship teams and competed in one national volleyball championship tournament. She has played on a basketball team that won its way to the regional tournament, a softball team that earned its way to the AIAW regionals before there was a divisional breadown, and on an RMAC championship softball team. Natalie Smith If special awards were given for endurance, Natalie Smith, an "everything athlete" at Southern Utah State - College, would probably ..qualify. v The 5-6 senior from , Ogden is probably establishing a new record this year tor the number ... of athletic letter awards earned during a college career at SUSC. |