Athletes of the Week

MALE

Elijah Brooks, Columbus North senior track athlete

Brooks won the 1,600 and 3,200 meters to help lead the Bull Dogs to a season-opening win against Whiteland.

His performance last week: “It was good. For the first outdoor meet and the first time I’ve done the 1,600-3,200 double, it was pretty good.”

Do you do anything special to prepare? “If it’s going to be an away meet, and I have quite a bit of extra time, I get a sandwich from Subway or something like that. If not, then I’ll usually just drink water, nothing too fancy.”

Favorite drink: “Gatorade”

Favorite food: “Fruit snacks”

Favorite book: “The Book Thief”

Favorite class: “AP stats or criminal justice”

Role model: “Steve Prefontaine”

Best advice: “If you show up every day, you can’t miss anything.”

Athletics goal: “To stay healthy and do my best. We’ve had a couple people get injured, so trying to stay healthy and not get hurt is a big thing right now.”

If you could travel anywhere: “Probably an Ultimate Frisbee field because I love Ultimate.”

FEMALE

Maura VanDeventer, Columbus North junior track athlete

VanDeventer won the long jump and 100-meter hurdles to help lead the Bull Dogs to a season-opening win against Whiteland.

Her performance last week: “I feel pretty good about the way I ran. Even though the weather wasn’t the best, I worked hard, and it showed.”

Do you do anything special to prepare? “Before a meet, I just keep to myself and listen to some music and eat a little snack, and then I’m ready to go.”

Favorite drink: “Lemonade”

Favorite food: “Pizza”

Favorite book: “I like to read medical books.”

Favorite class: “Calculus”

Role model: “Both of my parents (David and Tonya VanDeventer). They push me to work hard.”

Best advice: “No matter what the workout is, or no matter what the weather is, just work hard and stay positive.”

Athletics goal: “To make it to state by senior year”

If you could travel anywhere: “Probably Australia because the people from Australia, their accents sound nice, and it just seems really relaxing there.”