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Monday, October 30, 2000

Determination marks student’s high school career
Flour Bluff senior Amy Mrazek excels in her classes while competing in the shot put and discus
By Mike Bratten
Caller-Times

Michelle Christenson/Caller-Times

Amy Mrazek takes advanced placement classes at Flour Bluff High School but has always been naturally drawn to sports, said her mother, Nancy. Mrazek is a senior and strives to beat her own track records.

   Amy Mrazek is focused on the long run. By challenging herself with advanced placement courses and striving to beat her personal records in varsity track, she figures she’ll be ready for anything college life throws at her.
   "I’ve had to develop time management and organizational skills," Amy said. "The main thing is learning how to function on a lack of sleep. I average about four hours of sleep some nights. If this is typical of what they do in college, I’m prepared now."
   This Caller-Times South Texas Distinguished Scholar in the student-athlete category ranks second in her class of 357 with a 96.70 grade point average, or 102.27 with honors classes factored in.
   Academics have come relatively easy for the Flour Bluff High School senior. An A-B honor roll student, Amy has averaged four honors classes during her junior and senior years, and she has been a member of the Mu Alpha Theta Honorary Math Society, Honors Math Club, National Honor Society, National Spanish Honor Society, Key Club and Student Council.
   Amy’s excellence in academics is matched by an athletic career that started in seventh grade. She has played basketball and volleyball and run track since her freshman year. And as captain of the basketball and volleyball teams, she helped to garner numerous medals.
   This year, Amy, 17, set aside basketball and volleyball to concentrate on discus and shot put.
   "I enjoy team sports, but I like to see what I can accomplish individually in discus and shot put," said Amy, who works out at least two hours a day in preparation for track season. "I’m always trying to beat my personal records. I have a lot of confidence in myself and that’s what has helped me develop as a student-athlete."
   Amy’s mother, Nancy Mrazek, said she always stressed excellence in academics first, but that her daughter’s natural preference was sports.
   "She finds sports a stress reliever from the academics. But in both areas she’s willing to work hard because she knows that’s what it takes to be the best."
   Head girls’ track coach Leonard Tipton said Amy has qualities of determination and leadership that are rarely found in one student.
   "She has it all. In track she works extremely hard and she’s very talented at studying. She sets her own high standards and she tries to reach them. She’s a great young lady."
   Amy, who plans to attend Texas A&M University-Corpus Christi in preparation for a career as a pediatrician, said she enjoys the pressure and challenges of playing sports and taking college level classes.
   Achieving perfection, however, is something she doesn’t believe in.
   "I don’t think there is such a thing as perfection," she said. "If there was, I would keep striving for something better than that."

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