| Lady Tiger Appreciates Life |
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 Lady Tiger sports hero Rachelle Ballard, a senior, said she loves to be active and involved with life. And she doesn
Lady Tiger sports hero Rachelle Ballard,a senior,said she loves to be active and involved with life. And she doesn’t take for granted the people in her life helping her to keep things in perspective,stay focused and head in a healthy direction. “It’s been outside influences that make sure I keep balanced and well-rounded,”Ballard said. “I’ve always liked to be involved in all sorts of things. But my family definitely encourages and supports me. They are way helpful because I’m scatterbrained,and they’re always helping to keep me organized.” Ballard is the Lady Tigers’starting point guard this year,and an all-around athlete for Hurricane High School including four years of varsity basketball,four years of varsity soccer and two years of varsity softball. She also participated with the track team at the Region 9 championship last year. “I’d never done a track meet before,”Ballard said. “I was scared out of my mind. I got my fanny kicked. I didn’t get last but I definitely didn’t get first.” “She’s a tough girl,”head coach Clair Woodbury said. “She’s been playing with a broken wrist. She says it’s better,but I know it hurts her.” Besides her athletic contributions to the basketball team,she has taken on the role of being the Tigers’humorist by giving nicknames to some of the things that occur on the floor. When the Tigers or their opponents are not doing what they are supposed to,the team now refers to that as “freaky-brain.”When the Tigers run their aggressive defensive press,they now call it “hog-wild.” Ballard is the social vice president on Hurricane High School’s Executive Council. She was somewhat reluctant to talk about her individual contribution to the school. “The title doesn’t mean much,”Ballard said. “It’s more of a group thing where we all work together to get things done for the school.” Ballard works with the Executive Council to help with assemblies,Spirit Week,Homecoming and getting the student body involved doing fun activities. Ballard maintains a 3.8 GPA and is doing concurrent enrollment with Dixie State College during her senior year. She took three general education college courses last semester: psychology,art and English. This semester she will take math,biology and another English class. She is trying to get halfway done with her associate degree before graduating from high school. “I don’t think I’ll have one year,but I think it will be really close,”Ballard said. She plans to transfer to the University of Utah next year to continue her college education. Currently,she is interested in sports medicine,English and history. Although,she hasn’t officially decided what she wants to be when she grows up. “I like the University of Utah because of their medicine programs,”she said. Ballard participates with youth groups in her ward to do service projects,such as helping the elderly put up Christmas lights and keeping their yards neat and tidy. “She’s just an all-around terrific young lady,”Woodbury said. “I’m a very social person,so I like to be involved,”Ballard said. “The people around here are so supportive. When things start to be overwhelming,they know when to back off and when to help out.” Bookmark & Share              |