Agility, strength and dexterity are all qualities of an athlete, but Sophomore Greta Xiong goes above and beyond, dedicating her time and effort to volleyball, soccer and track.
A friend introduced Xiong to team sports when she encouraged her to join an AYSO team in fifth grade. Xiong’s father had played soccer and her mother wanted her to exercise. In the seventh grade, she played on a club team for a year. The club coach encouraged her to join her school team. She made it onto the varsity team freshman year.
Xiong decided to tackle another sport and try out for Oak’s volleyball team, because she thought the women’s Olympic volleyball team was fascinating to watch. When Xiong tried out freshman year, she was surprised when Coach Lyle Takeshita asked her to join the varsity team in their practice.
“I found them to be the nicest, craziest people I have ever met,” Xiong said. “I really like my teammates as they have become my family. And although we may not have the best record for volleyball, I think playing with teammates with such great attitudes is already rewarding in itself.”
Her positive experience with soccer and volleyball in her middle school years gave her the confidence to join the track team at the high school. Her main events are pole vaulting and the triple jump. Xiong’s personal best is 32 ft. 10 in. and she plans to try and beat the school’s triple jump record of 35 ft.
Xiong’s favorite parts of track are her teammates and the friendly environment. However, track events weren’t as organized compared to the events she was used to.
“Being on varsity was very overwhelming,” Xiong said. “There are so many people and events are going on at the same time. It gets very hectic and confusing.”
Despite the chaos, Xiong admits that Coach Chris Branson was there to help every step of the way. Unlike some other members of the team, she had him for a P.E. coach in the seventh grade, and he introduced the class to pole vaulting.
“I already knew Coach Branson,” Xiong said. “He was enthusiastic and never judged us on our ability, but our attitude.”
Xiong enjoys all the sports she participates in, and had trouble choosing one over the rest. However going into her sophomore year, Xiong quit the soccer team, due to scheduling conflicts.
“I thought I was stretched thin. My freshman year was my trial period, and so I did all three sports, thinking that I could handle it,” Xiong said. “However each sport requires a different part of the body, and so it was hard to adjust to soccer and then track right after. So I dropped soccer to allow summer and winter season to adjust to volleyball and track.”