Working hard and playing hard are not the only things that senior Laurel Kearsley does in the classroom but also on the basketball court.
Kearsley is a senior at Colorado State University- Pueblo, majoring in physical education. Her dream is to be a college coach one day. This is her last season here being a Thunderwolf.
Kearsley transferred from a community college in Twin Falls Idaho, where she played basketball for two years, after she was noticed by coach Kip Drown.
Kearsley, who was born and raised on a farm in Idaho, comes from a big family. She has seven brothers and three sisters and she is the youngest of all of all of her siblings. There is a 21-year age difference between her and her oldest sister
Kearsley has won the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference Defensive Player of the Week Award four times this season.
“Honestly I didn’t know that I won the award until my coach texted me saying congratulations on being named the Defensive Player of the Week,” Kearsley said.
“This season has been a great one we have a great team, awesome coaches, I feel truly blessed”, Kearsley said, as she returned to the university after a weekend away, winning both games, 79-60 and 70-49, respectively.
Her favorite basketball team is the Chicago Bulls and her favorite player is Michael Jordan. One thing that Kearsley has thought about after being done with school and basketball would be to play overseas.
On the court, Kearsley’s main position is the post. This position, also called the bigs, is played in the middle of the key.
“They are called the bigs because they are the ones that are sometimes taking beatings during the games from the other opponents,” Kearsley said.
On the basketball team, there are many nicknames for the girls. Some of the nicknames that have been made up for Kearsley are, lo, a name that her coach calls her, lo-down and the newest one, lo-ski.
Another award that Kearsley recently won is the All Award Out of the Team, an award voted on by the players and coaches.
For Kearsley, it’s a surreal feeling knowing this is her last season playing as a T-Wolf
“It’s crazy, I always thought after each season that there would always be another one to be played,” Kearsley said.
I have had a great journey, I have learned a lot not just about basketball but also about life lessons, Kearsley said.
This semester Kearsley is taking 15 credit hours and has practice about two and a half hours each day. She also lifts weights for an hour on Mondays and Wednesdays.
There are nine games left in the conference, and the T-Wolves are currently tied for second place with Metro State and University of Colorado, Colorado Springs, only trailing the first place team, Mesa State. Their next games are going to be at the Massari Arena against New Mexico Highlands University and Western New Mexico on Feb. 1 and 2.
