Senior Brenda Selander has virtually every minute of her life planned. Wake up. Go to classes. Eat a nutritious meal. Go to classes. Work a few hours. Go to practice. Eat a nutritious meal. Study. Sleep.

And it's all written down in her planner, typical for a college student-athlete who participates in one sport. However, Selander participates in three--soccer, hockey, and softball.

"I'm the type of person who has a lot of energy, and I need to have something to do all the time to release that energy," Selander said. "I have good time-management skills. I don't procrastinate at all, or else I'd be stressed out. Everybody thinks I'm crazy for playing three sports, but I'm a little ball full of energy. I need to express that energy."

While Selander is the only Augsburg athlete in three varsity sports, there are numerous Auggies, among the more than 400 in varsity athletics, who engage in multiple sports.

Athletes who have excelled at multiple sports say they prefer competing at a Division III college, where they can continue participating in more than one activity. At many scholarship Division I and II colleges, coaches limit athletes to just one sport.

"I was offered a soccer scholarship at Mankato State University, but I wanted to go to a place where I could be in both soccer and hockey," Selander said. "Plus, my brother goes to Hamline, and my family is really close. I'm a family-oriented person; Sunday is the time to go home and have a dinner with my parents.

"My parents come to every game. They never miss anything I do. One of the key reasons why I chose Augsburg was that it was just 20 minutes from my parents' house, and they're a huge support for me. I needed them to be close to me here."

Selander has earned all-conference honors and has been Augsburg's leading soccer scorer during her entire career; plus, she was a third-line forward on the women's hockey team.

Last spring, she decided to put softball back into her planner. Despite missing the softball team's first month of practice and spring games in Florida, due to the

women's hockey team's national competition, Selander still excelled, becoming the team's starting centerfielder.

Senior Ben Bauer found that competing in two sports has helped him to excel in both. A multiple all-conference weights specialist for Augsburg's track and field team, he has also been a key member of Augsburg's six-time national champion wrestling team.

A heavyweight, Bauer earned his first trip to the NCAA Division III wrestling tournament in 1999, then returned to the meet last season and won the individual title.

At the 1999 MIAC outdoor track and field meet, he became the first competitor ever to earn top-eight honors in three weight events‹shot put, discus, and hammer throw.

"The things that have helped me the most are spending a lot of time in the weight room and staying organized," Bauer said. "The stronger you get, the further you can go. Plus you have to stay organized to be in two sports, going to class at this time, working out at this time, going to bed at this time.

"The work ethic I've learned in wrestling has worked well for me in track, too. The track program here is small, so there aren't enough people to really push you forward. You have to have that work ethic to excel."

Senior Desman Oakley has also excelled in track and field, winning the MIAC indoor 55-meter hurdles in 1999 and being a multiple all-conference competitor in the sprints and hurdle events. He has also been the second leading receiver for the Auggie football team the last two seasons.

"I don't remember why, but originally I wasn't recruited to play football here," Oakley said. "But while I was talking to the track and field people, I asked them about playing football. I miss out on the track-type fall conditioning to play football, but they let me do it."

Oakley also credits being organized to his success in both sports.

"It helps you get into a set schedule," Oakley said. "When you're doing the same thing every day, like practicing from 3 to 5 [p.m.], you get into the same pattern and it helps you keep organized."

A side benefit for Oakley was the fact that he was able to start his college experience early, since the football team starts practice two weeks before the school year begins. "Before I started school [in 1997], I already knew 80 people. It helped me adjust to being in college."

For Angie Rieger, playing in just women's hockey and volleyball was a reduction from the five sports she played in high school.

"I look at life as a challenge. I love my life busy. I can't stand being bored," she said. "I have to live my life this way, always on the go."

Going into her senior season, Rieger has set virtually every Augsburg women's hockey career and single-season scoring record, earning All-America honors three times. She was named MIAC Player of the Year last season in women's hockey, leading the Auggies to the Division III national finals.

In volleyball, Rieger has battled injuries throughout her career, but still earned All-MIAC first-team honors in her junior season. She has led the Auggies in kills per game and attack percentage for most of her career.

"My secret is to always come into practice knowing there's something you can improve," Rieger said. "You have to go 100 percent every day. When you push yourself in practice, it shows in how you play in games."

And she did all this while maintaining a 3.8 grade point average with an international business major and working as the commissioner of the Augsburg student newspaper.

"God blessed me with a brain for academics," she said. "In high school, I didn't have to study at all. It came naturally, so my focus was on sports. Here, it's different. You definitely have to study."

All the athletes affirmed that being in athletics helped them improve their grades. Selander said in her junior year her grades actually improved after she decided to take up softball. Oakley said football study groups, along with an increased focus on graduating this year, helped him improve his grades. Bauer's grades have steadily risen, averaging 3.85 the past three semesters. Last year, he earned National Wrestling Coaches Association Scholar All-America honors.

"Division I athletes get scholarships and that's all they do, just their sport," Rieger said. "There's no academic focus. Here, you can do so many things and you have to focus on academics, too. If you only did one thing in your life, what kind of life would you have? You have to have variety."

Don Stoner is sports information coordinator.

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