Rachel ’13 never takes a break.  In all three of her years at Marlborough, she has competed in basketball, volleyball, and track and field.

Rachel said she runs track and field, her current sport, to stay in shape for her other two sports.  However, she set the high jump record for middle school last year – 5’ – and she now hopes to break the upper school record of 5’ 6.”

“There are no boundaries for Rachel.  She is super ambitious, and when she puts her mind to it, there’s nothing that can stop her,”  said Dawid Jaworski, track and field assistant coach.

She also pushes herself in volleyball.  She started as outside hitter for a strong JV team last fall that finished third in its division.  Rachel hopes to play club volleyball for Sports Shack in her sophomore year, helping her to improve her game and make varsity.

Although she is passionate about volleyball and track, she said her real love for sports lies in basketball, which she has played since the fifth grade.  This year, as a ninth grader, she was one of three freshmen to make varsity.

“Rachel is one of the most talented athletes I’ve seen,” said Trenton Jackson, varsity basketball coach. “You could put her in any athletic situation and she would blossom.”

Rachel said playing on the varsity team as one of her biggest accomplishments and it was a great opportunity to develop her skills.

“I was really happy to get on the team.  I wasn’t that surprised because a lot of the seniors had left last year, but I still had to work really hard to prove I deserved to be on the team,”  Rachel said.

Players on varsity rave about Rachel’s great attitude and her hard-working mentality.

“She was so much fun to play with, she had a really great energy and always made us laugh.  She was also really open to learning from the older players,”  Alex ’11, member of the team, said.

Even though Rachel isn’t the tallest player, her dedication and commitment  give her an edge.

“She can get a rebound above someone two feet taller,”  said forward Miranda ’10.

Rachel’s goal is to get more court time, be more aggressive in scoring, and improve her dribbling with her left hand. She also hopes to play club basketball.

Balancing athletics along with academics is hard, but to Rachel it’s worth it.

“I’ll have to give up a lot of my weekends and stay extra hours at school.  Free periods also really help so I can get my homework done.  It will be a lot to manage, but the more time I have to practice, the better,”  she said.