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Show Mason leads teammates with example and determination By G.BRETT HART BOUNTIFUL Have you ever been so good in every sport you play that you have trouble deciding c which sport to stick with? For most athletes, this doesn't i pose much of a dilemma. Most are thankful just to be good at one 9 sport, but for Bound fill's Molly Mason, the choice is as difficult as 9 it is varied. f i 1 L n J r El i ... E toW to L. . . , 'Jk T tournament began Oct 5 in Provo, the same day her South Davis team was to face Farmington Junior High in the county volleyball championship champion-ship game. Most would have been content to compete in one championship or the other seeing the conflicting schedules as insurmountable but not Molly. After defeating both her first and second round tennis opponents in Provo, she raced back to Bountiful Boun-tiful in time to rally with her fellow Spartans in a losing effort for the championship against the undefeated Huskies . "I'm really competitive," admits ad-mits MoUy. "I love things that make you stretch and test yourself." So what's the secret of Molly's success? The old saying goes that behind every good man, there's a good woman. Well, perhaps, behind every good athlete, there's a good, supportive set of parents. At least that's Molly's case. "My parents are really supportive," suppor-tive," said Molly. "They come to everything they can. My mom comes to everything, she's pretty much my taxi. She has to take me everywhere." Molly contributes part of her talents tal-ents to her parents and the rest to hard work. "Some things you're born with, but eventually you have to work at it," said Molly. Molly finished volleyball Oct. 5 and began basketball tryouts Oct. 8. She has played for South Davis volleyball team faced, a lack of height but certainly not heart. Molly admits that sometimes she can become a little obsessed with a sport. "I love practicing sports. I used to practice shooting basketballs basket-balls four hours a day," said Molly. "I would just go out and shoot." Molly attacks her scholastic goals with the same intensity she attacks at-tacks her athletic endeavors. "Whatever high school sport I decide to play, I want to earn a scholarship. I would like to stay close to home. I'd kind of like to play tennis for the University of Utah. "I have to be really organized to get my studies done," said Molly. "When I come home from basketball basket-ball practice, I set aside two hours to study. My mom's really organized. organiz-ed. I guess I inherited my sense of organization from her and grew up with the rest "My favorite subjects are English, history and geometry. My friends think I'm crazy because I like geometry, but it's fun because it's challenging. I hate things that are too easy. Challenges make you better. ' Molly may face one of her greatest challenges next fall as she tries to narrow her sports endeavors to one or two. In high school, the girls soccer, tennis and volleyball seasons occur simultaneously. "I'll probably play tennis. The other sport I play will depend on which coach is willing to work around that," said Molly. O to f ; 1 i s - As a ninth grader, Molly Mason led the Woods Cross Wildcats Girls' tennis team in the number one singles position. She also played on the South Davis Junior High Volleyball team that took second in the county tournament at the same time. Mason took third in the region tennis tournament tourna-ment and made it to the semifinals semi-finals of the state tournament after taking tennis lessons seriously seri-ously for only a year. since she was a seventh grader, winning a starting position at point guard last year as an eighth grader. She said her basketball team will face the same dilemma her b MOLLY MASON o Molly, 14, is a ninth grader at South Davis Junior High. While most of her Spartan volleyball teammates were busy concentrating 0 on their sets and spikes, Molly was, a too. And, in the meantime, found v the energy to lead Woods Cross High School's tennis team in its number one singles spot Mason earned third place honors W in the Region Six tournament and g made h to the semi-finals of the R. state high school tennis tournament before being defeated by the evens' even-s' tual state champ, g If that weren't enough; in her K spare time, Molly also plays f halfback on the soccer team, Dev-t Dev-t astation, which is an AAA, girls' championship soccer team scheduled schedul-ed to compete in Las Vegas over the Thanksgiving holiday. Molly said she has been p! . ing 1 soccer and basketball since she was six years old, but tennis is a relatively relative-ly new obsession; she has been taking lessons seriously for just over a year. "I love tennis because it's just you on the court testing yourself," said Molly. "If you win, jf it was just you that won, and if you I lose, it was you that lost, but I like soccer because of the running action." ac-tion." 'I also love team sports because it's fun to play with your friends. : Team sports make you learn to work together. They build 1 character. To be successful, there I has to be team unity. You can't be s.J jealous of each other, you have to J be best friends. There's no such t. thing as a one-man team. A one- man team is a losing team, s. When pressed, Molly concedes ol that her favorite sport is a toss-up between basketball and tennis. "If it came down to it, I'd probably choose tennis because it's a sport you can play throughout your life." To say Molly is competitive by nature is somewhat of an understatement The state tennis |