Newspapers / North Carolina School of … / Dec. 1, 1998, edition 1 / Page 11
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December 1998 Page 11 Conversing with stellar swimmer Jeff Milbourne Hollins Pause Jeff Milbourne has been selected as November’s Athlete of the Month, due to his supe rior performance and dedica tion to the sport of swimming. In addition to being a superb athlete, Milbourne is an asset to the NCSSM community. He is one of Fourth East’s Residen tial Life Assistants. He has a wonderful academic record as well. In fact, Milbourne is cur rently in the regional stage of the John Morehead Scholarship for UNC-Chapel Hill. Re cently, I sat down and spoke with Jeff about his swimming abilities and love of the sport. Hollins: How long have you been swimming? Jeff: I started swimming when I was 2, and I began swimming competitively, which is year-round, when I was 7 years old. H: What inspired you to begin swimming? J: I don’t know, I just kind of took to the water. My parents didn’t push me to keep swimming, which helped. They were pretty supportive. 1 showed some natural talent as a kid, too. H: Why have you contin ued to swim? J: At this point, swim ming is something that 1 do out of habit. It’sjust part of my rou tine. 1 really got into it 3 or 4 years ago. Since then I’ve been pretty fired up. I’ve been train ing as hard as 1 can, you know, seeing what kind of times 1 can come up with. Plus, it’s a re ally good form of exercise. Swimming also helps me man age my time, and it’s a great stress-reliever. H: Is it difficult to balance swimming and academics? J: Not really. It wasn’t easy when-1 first came here. Once I got into my pattern, it wasnH hard at all. I still ended up doing well last year, in swimming and in school. It’s pretty rough though. This year, we [Bull City Aquatic Center] started morning practice, at 5:30, so I’m putting in 19 and 20-hour days. H: What events do you swim? J: I like the short events, like the 50 free(style). It’s all about the sprints. H: Do you do other sports? J: Not competitively. 1 surf a little in the summer, but no, 1 don’t re ally play any other sports. Swimming takes up a lot of time. H: What has been your greatest athletic triumph? J: 1 don’t really know about the great est triumph, but I can think of an event that stands out. Last year at state champs, the 400-free relay. We [Bull City Aquatics] have a re ally fast team, and 1 usually don’t swim the relay, but 1 got a spot on the A-team. 1 swam really well, and I had good splits. It felt good to be a part of the relay, and get 2"^ place in .1 Jeff Milborne, age 7. and his brother take a break at summer league swin team pool. the state. H: Which do you enjoy more, swimming for school, or club swimming? J: Well, club [swimming] and school [swimming] are re ally different. School swim ming is more laid-back and fun. It doesn’t have the amount of pressure that -club swimming has. 1 think that I like club swim ming more, though. H: Do you plan to swim in col lege? J: Oh, Right now. yeah, if I can. chances are that I’m going to Carolina, and they have got a fast team! 1 hope to walk on, and 1 think that 1 could land a spot on the team. They’re re ally fast, though. If 1 don’t get a spot as a walk-on, then I’ll swim on the club level, which isn’t the same. They compete, though. But, yeah, I’m plan ning on swimming some kind of way in college. H: One of the things that I’ve always associated with swimming is the mental drive that it takes to be a successful swimmer. How do you feel about that? J: You’re definitely right. I read somewhere that swim mers have one of the highest tolerances for pain of anyone, and 1 believe it, man. It takes a lot some days to get up at 5:30 to go swim, but once 1 start thinking about the swimming, 1 just kind of get up and get moving. Swimming can be ex-: hausting, though. I’ve seen some guys pass out and nearly drown in the pool after a hard workout. Yeah. 1 agree with you, though. The mental aspect of swimming is kind of what sets it apart for me. I enjoy working hard so much. It feels really good to finish a hard set. That’s probably one of the things 1 like best about swim ming, the mental side of it. IM soccer wrap-up Corner Mike Beer Coaching at Science and Math is a unique experience. All at once it is rewarding, frustration, and challenging. Due to out status as a two year, residential high school, coaches are presented with a myriad of challenges our col leagues at rival schools never face. From practices that start three weeks late in the fall, to extendeds that cut into practice time, the obstacles coaches must maneuver through to achieve success are abundant. In order to see the larger picture of the ’sports program here, perhaps it is best to start with a look at a soccer coaches dream program. As in many things that first step would be money: money to pay for three referees instead of two; money to buy quality warm-ups, bags, and other things which help build team unity; money to staff the training room with a certified trainer to take care of the athletes; and money to take teams on trips to play quality competition in pre-season tour naments. Normally, strong par ent booster organizations, concessions, local businesses, and ticket sales fuel an athletic program. With parents spread all over the state however, and no fee for entrance to most of our athletic events (another benefit of attending S & M), Science and Math has a short age of athletic funds. Secondly, any quality program is built upon junior varsity programs where coaches can identify and nuture the tal ent. State championship teams are rarely built in one season. Just as coaches leant everyone’s name at S & M, the season is ;overand a classr graduates. No need to worry though, next year we’ll start from scratch with brand new team. Thirdly, prac tice makes perfect. At other schools, fall sports teams can practice beginning in early August and then continue for 5 days a week. This past season, the soccer team had only 5 days of practice before our first game (and only 27 practices for the season). As for practicing problems, factor in extendeds, college night, labs, work ser vice, orientation workshops, mentorship, the mountains of homework, and host of other student responsibilities, and it is amazing we ever had our full complement of players. Finally the ideal coaching situation would see players playing their sport year round. At S & M, that is virtually impossible. It should be said that this article is far from an indict ment of the sports program at Science and Math. It is in tended to be just the opposite. It is intended to praise the dedi cation and hard work of those involved by laying out all of the obstacles our school and' coaches face. It is incredible' that we win at all. To have had the success we have bad since- the school opened is truly amazing. If you don’t believe me, just take a look at the two Wachovia Cup banners hang ing in the PEC, ask Kevin Cromwell about the cross country titles, Warren Basket about the tennis titles, or Branson Brown about the qual ity of our teams. ~1 ESSE Wharton From August 26 to Oc tober 21, the soccer field and IM field were the place for hall spirit and friendly competition in the afternoons after classes. Not all of the halls competed in Intramurals, but the compe tition was tough between the ones that did go out and show their skill. Boys on the soccer team were not eligible to play IM’s. MEN However, since the women’s soccer team is not in season, women soccer players could participate in IM’s, thus mak ing the competition tougher in the women’s league. Talent and athletic ability is only part of what IM’s are all about. IM’s give stu-' dents a chance to show their hall spirit, get some exercise, and go out and have a good time in sports. Participation points, which are gained according to how many team members (out of the half’s eli gible players) DIVISION A WON LOST partake in the 2nd Hill North 3 .2 events, are more 2nd West 3 2 important in fig- 3rd West 2 2 uring scores as 4th West 2 2 points for wins. 1st Hill 0 4 The equation for used to calcu- DIVISION B WON LOST lated halls’ par- 1st Hunt 4 2 ticipation scores 3rd East 5 1 is: (game at- 2nd Hill East 2 2 tendance/eli- 4th East 1 3 gible players)x 2nd East 1 3 30. WOMEN To figure ' .... • . . ■ . the game score. DIVISION A . . WON •LOST the equation ■2nd Bryan ' ■ .4 2.-.' used is: (# ..RE-lD,,.lC,2CA,t ,'3..:..:: ■y.-iu V- '■ games pl’ayed x 4th Bryan 3 1 ■ '5) + (# games 2nd Beall 1 3 forfeited x 5) + 3rd Bryan 0 4 (# games won x 5). DIVISION B WON LOST 1st Beall 5 1 3rd Beall 3 2 Ground RE 2 2 -See IMs on Staff 1 3 page 12 RE IE, 2E, 2D 1 3
North Carolina School of Science and Mathematics Student Newspaper
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Dec. 1, 1998, edition 1
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