By Maddy Acker and Alice Pulliam

Staff Writers

With winter sports coming to an end and spring sports starting up, athletes throughout R.J. Reynolds are preparing for the upcoming tryout schedule. The Demons are looking forward to a winning season of spring athletics on our new field, The M. Douglas Crater Field & Stadium. 

    With hopes of winning streaks and conference championships in mind, spring sport athletes have been preparing for their seasons starting as early as this past summer. Preseason is, and will continue to be, a crucial factor that will ultimately make or break teams when the season rolls around.

    Some students inevitably make more of a contribution to athletics than others. Multisport athletes, while committed to their winter sports, have to make the time to prepare for their upcoming season despite the inconvenience that it may place on their schedule. Junior Tommy Elrod knows how to juggle three sports.     

    “It’s really tiring,” Elrod said. “Once one sport ends the next has already begun.”    

    Although a full schedule provides little room for preparation into the following season, Elrod’s coaches do their best to supply all multi-sport athletes with the tools they need to be successful in the upcoming season. 

    “Coach Frail got me and Porter Lassiter, who is also currently playing basketball, on a throwing program,” Elrod said. “We go on the weekends when we have time to throw and make sure our arms are loose. The worst thing is not being prepared for the season and being at risk of injury.”

    While this process of constantly moving from sport to sport is tiring and no doubt time-consuming, it is pretty rewarding in the end.

     “I think that playing three sports is really cool because you get to be with three vastly different groups of people,” Elrod said. 

    Sports have proven to be great ways to meet new people and make friends, as well as just an opportunity to participate in an activity you love with people who also share that same passion8. 

    “The baseball team should be pretty good this year because we have a lot of veteran guys as well as new players, so hopefully, we are able to build on that,” Elrod said.

    Baseball isn’t the only sport preparing for a prosperous season this spring. RJR Men’s Lacrosse has been working hard for months on conditioning and technical skills to make sure its players are up to par for the competition that the conference holds. Sophomore Tino Kelley and his teammates have been working this preseason to make sure they can rise to their full potential once the season begins.         

    “We practice multiple times a week, which usually consists of running the track, doing lifts, and running through shooting drills,” Kelley said.

    Preseason isn’t just about getting in shape for the upcoming schedule, but also building team chemistry so that everyone can work together when the time comes around. 

    “My favorite part of preseason has been being able to connect with the team and meet all the new people coming in,” Kelley said. 

    Spending time working on those skills that need to be sharpened up while also getting to know all of your teammates on a personal level creates a physically and communicationally sound group of athletes. With these skills in hand and just a few weeks left to go before the season officially starts, the lacrosse team is looking at what should be a very successful season this year. 

    “I’m really looking forward to being able to just have a good time playing this year and, who knows, maybe pulling out another conference championship,” Kelley said.