If your roommate came into your room one day and asked you to join a collegiate team, would you do it? What if you were playing a sport already? What if you were also still trying to keep up the stellar GPA that you have worked toward your entire collegiate career? These were all questions Christen Averill had to think about and answer.
Averill came to Plattsburgh State as a soccer recruit freshman year, but when soccer season came to an end, she believed that she had too much extra time on her hands, as if playing a sport and maintaining her grades weren’t taking up enough of her already busy schedule.
Nevertheless, one day when her roommate and fellow track and field teammate, Megan Shweizer, asked her if she wanted to join the team, it seemed like the perfect fit for the superstar.
“She’s so passionate about everything she does,” Shweizer said. “She’s always doing something, and she’s never just sitting around doing nothing. She’s just so focused and driven.”
Playing two sports not only brings many scheduling conflicts into play, but it also can take a toll on the body. Averill is currently out with an injury in her ankle, which has made her absent at some of her practices.
However, it is not in Averill’s genetic makeup to just take it easy. She is focused on recovering and does so by swimming laps in the Memorial Hall pool or biking as physical therapy. It’s her way of still being able to get her cardio workouts in. The grind never ceases for Averill.
Coming from a soccer-geared mindset, Averill has been able to bring some of her qualities from the soccer field to the track. These are qualities that her coaches are highly grateful for.
To view more videos, visit our Multimedia page.“Her aggressiveness — we see that all the time in practices,” head coach Nick Jones said. “She’s very driven and is always a hard worker.”Although a majority of Averill’s days are focused on achieving her many goals, she still has a personality that her teammates have taken notice of. Shweizer describes her as fun and always ready to laugh and joke. This includes Averill’s acceptance of the spontaneous nickname, “Reggie” or “Reg,” which stems from her middle name, Regina. Once Shweizer had learned of her middle name, she started calling her by that, and it just kind of stuck.
Light hearted jokes such as this make the long days easier for Averill, but it does not shadow the long term goals that she is working toward. Averill has many paths she can take but she has a pretty good understanding of where she wants to end up.
She is currently a graduate student in PSUC’s Childhood Special Education program, and her goal is to become a teacher where she will also use her minor in coaching to coach both soccer as well as track and field wherever she may end up in life.
“I’ve done internships with many teams,” Averill said. “Just being around the track team and the whole running atmosphere has prepared me to coach, so I’m really hoping I can find a school district that needs me as a teacher and as a coach.”
With her resume, it looks like it will not be so much as Averill finding a school district that will take here as it looks more like it will be a school district that will be fortunate enough to have her many diverse skills.
Success and greatness are qualities that almost everyone Averill encounters sees in her.
“Her future is so bright,” Shweizer said. “It’s so funny. All of her professors are just telling her she’s going to do great things one day.”
Email Kevin Morley at kevin.morley@cardinalpointsonline.com
