By Sondreen Johnson
Trinity Times Correspondent

Trinity Washington University Freshman Nan Elizabeth Holt juggled her academic and athletic responsibilities throughout her first semester of college this past spring and achieved a “Most Valuable Player” award for her participation on the school’s relaunched lacrosse team.

There was a lot of pre-planning, organization and coordination with university professors for Holt to keep up with her college courseload while actively training in the sport and traveling to games throughout the season, but the payoff was an enriching campus experience.

During the Trinity Tiger’s last lacrosse home game of the season against the Eastern University Eagles April 4, 2024, Holt’s number 15 jersey was in full view as the midfield player scored the first goal.  

From the beginning to the end, the Trinity Tigers revealed their sisterhood on the field by working together and encouraging one another.

Though the Eastern Eagles took the win with a final score of 19-3, Holt and her teammates took their loss with their heads held high, knowing that they gave their all and – most importantly – had fun. 

Of course, she said it hurts to lose, but after relaunching lacrosse at Trinity in 2023 after about a decade off the university’s roster of sports teams, there is some pain involved in the rebuild.

“Yeah, it hurt a little bit, especially at the beginning of our season I had to mentally wrap my head around taking a loss,” Holt told Trinity Times. “But now it is less about winning and losing and more about seeing us growing as players.” 

Holt has been a student athlete for most of her life, playing two sports in high school, and she played lacrosse before enrolling at Trinity in the 2024 spring semester.  

She was recognized by her coaches as the most valuable player. To Holt’s peers she is recognized as a sister. 

“Just playing with other team members creates strong bonds,” Holt said. “We are all going through the same thing, balancing schoolwork and sports. That in itself is a bonding experience.”

That balancing act is a reality for all college athletes, and it requires them to maintain high-academic standards while meeting the training and traveling commitments that come with being a member of a university NCAA Division III sports team.

All members of a Trinity sports team are required to be enrolled full time at the university and hold a minimum 2.0 grade-point-average, said Christa Burgess, Trinity’s athletic director and lacrosse team coach.

Though juggling both team sports and the rigor of her academic workload isn’t easy, Holt said finding that balance has required her to become organized in how to schedule her time. 

“I’m super into my planner,” she said. “I carry it with me everywhere so I can schedule my time but also schedule time for myself, so I don’t burn out from classes or sports.”

Fortunately for Holt, her Trinity professors have been very accepting of her sports team schedule and have accommodated her time away from class when she’s traveling for a game.

“Most are more likely to give me an extension for my assignments or schedule a Zoom meeting while I’m on the road,” she said. 

Student-athletes are on the road a lot, sometimes missing classes and doing homework while traveling to and from games.

Statistically, though, U.S. university student athletes tend to achieve higher scholastically than their nonathlete counterparts. 

A 2020 Gallup study also found that former athletes were more likely to be flourishing in life, largely due to the support systems their sports team provided for them while in college.

The study split the 75,000 survey respondents into two different units based on their graduation year, analyzing alumni of 1,900 different colleges and universities in the United States. 

The study showed that the modifications between former athletes and nonathlete outcomes are indications of the “built-in support system” athletics provides throughout a student’s college experience, such as mentorship from peers and coaches, and direct access to financial aid advisers and academic backing.

Leaders at colleges like Trinity Washington University make sure they fully support the student athletes and the sports teams, understanding it’s an essential part of campus life and team building helps in developing skills for success, Burgess said.

This was one of the reasons Trinity President Patricia McGuire was so eager to re-establish the lacrosse team at the university.

“The administration is excited about the team being here,” Burgess said with a soft smile, and expressed gratitude to the entire university community for being so actively involved with campus sports. 

“When we have games, the university is promoting the games on social media,” she said. “They are reposting us. They are getting the word out. The maintenance staff and the Trinity Center are amazing. It’s the little things like ensuring that the grass is cut or ensuring that everything is right before our games.”

According to a study conducted by The Gallup Alumni Survey, the 12% of former college athletes who are thriving in all five elements of wellbeing is also greater than the 9% listed for nonathletes.

The research suggested that student athletes are thriving in multiple areas of wellbeing, which is related to a variety of positive life outcomes, including life evaluation and health. 

Those who are thriving in all five areas of well-being are considered to have holistic happiness and experience the greatest benefits.

Although the Trinity Tigers lacrosse team may not have had a sweeping winning season in 2024, the lineup’s bonding experience has been the ultimate award.  

“Overall, the girls have had an amazing journey,” Burgess said. “They have tried things that they never tried before. Some even played a sport that they never played before, and they created these bonds. 

“These girls had the opportunity to travel the East Coast and go to these different schools,” she said. “A lot of people don’t have that experience. I would say that it makes it very memorable for the girls.” 

The expectation for the team was to make it fun while knowing that there would be challenges and some bumps down the road, Burgees said. 

The 2023-2024 season for all of Trinity’s sports teams was as much fun for the coaches as it was for the athletes, said Raven Gerald, the university’s assistant athletic director. 

“This past lacrosse season was extraordinary, especially senior night,” Gerald told Trinity Times. “Senior night was a beautiful day out, our team played hard, and I loved getting the chance to celebrate our seniors during their last home game of their careers.”

 She advises student athletes to stay as present as possible and to take life one day at a time to balance their academic and sports commitments. 

“Try to embrace the process of developing stronger time management skills,” Gerald said. “While this balance may feel overwhelming at times, it’s only preparing you to be successful in life after college.” 

If an athlete is struggling with maintaining their academic and sports life balance, the coach puts support measures into place to assist them.  

“All athletes are required to go to study hall for a minimum four hours a week,” Burgess said. “If a student athlete is struggling, we would pair them with a tutor or fellow teammate who may be more skilled in a course that a student athlete is struggling with. We also send them to the academic center to receive additional help if needed.” 

In general, Burgees said she feels like a proud mom to her student athletes who achieve high academic success. 

“I’m amazed,” she said. “It’s like ‘wow,’ not only are you killing it on the court or the field, but you’re also killing it in the classroom!”