By Joe Vanden Acker
Lawrence Today magazine, Spring 2004
Her game face is a smile, her love of sport obvious.
Jenny Burris, ’04, plays with the joy of a child every time she takes
her position on the softball field or steps on the volleyball court. The
Gurnee, Ill., native has been a standout since day one at Lawrence University.
No athlete
for the Vikings over the past four years has played the game with such great
skill and pure elation as she has.
"That’s my game face,” she says of her infectious smile. “If
I’m really angry at myself or I get frustrated, that’s when I
play badly. I try for a combination of having lots of fun but being focused
at the
same time.”
That focus has led her to five All-Midwest Conference selections. She earned
first-team honors in volleyball in
2000 and 2003 and has been a first-team selection in softball for
three consecutive years. In addition, she has won North Division Player
of the Year honors in softball for two straight years
and is a three-time All-Great Lakes Region selection.
"I do love to play,” she says. “I love the team. I love
the competition. I love trying to be perfect at every game — trying
to go for the perfect dig, the perfect hit, every single time. It’s
not going to happen, but it’s fun to try.”
Burris came to the Vikings as a prep athlete with oodles of potential.
She says she chose Lawrence over St. Norbert College and Ripon College
because
of the academic program and, to a large degree, because of Kim
Tatro, who was
head volleyball and softball coach at the time.
After seeing Burris earn first-team all-conference honors in both volleyball
and softball as a first-year student, Tatro says one could only wonder.
"You were thinking: Can she continue at this pace for three more years?” Not
only did Burris continue, but she took her game to a different level, says
Tatro, who is now director of athletics and head coach of softball.
Perhaps more impressive than Burris’ overall natural ability is her
capacity to play multiple positions and roles. As a volleyball player, she
started her
career as an outside hitter and was a first-team all-conference pick there.
She moved to the defensive position of libero for this past season and was
again first-team all-conference. She finished 15th in the nation, with 6.10
digs per game.
"She is one of the most fundamentally sound players,” Vikings head
volleyball coach Kendra
Marlowe says. “She has a great understanding of
the game, which allows her to fill whatever role is necessary to help the team.”
On the softball diamond, she has played shortstop throughout her career but
has occupied vastly different places in the batting order. She batted in
the lead-off position and finished second in the nation in stolen bases as
a sophomore.
She moved deeper into the power positions in the order last season and
batted a career-high .494, finishing sixth in the nation in that category,
with 26
runs batted in.
One of the reasons Burris has pushed her game to such a high level of achievement
could be called a quest for knowledge.
"Her passion and thirst for knowledge stand out,” Tatro says of her
star infielder. “She’s passionate about athletics. You can find that
in people, but it’s rare at her talent level. She loves to practice.
She wants to learn something new and get better every time she suits up.
That makes her something special.”
"I like to analyze and watch people. I like to see what makes others successful,
and I try to emulate that,” says Burris, an economics major and Academic
All-Midwest Conference honoree.
"I really would like to coach at the college level in either sport, whichever
one comes my way. I guess it’s because I like to analyze everything
and help people if I see things.”
Others should probably be paying attention to Burris, who holds eight school
records in softball and four more in volleyball, but the one thing that
is tougher than getting Burris out in softball is getting her to admit
how talented
she is.
Even though she is Lawrence’s single-season leader in stolen bases (37)
and the career leader (82), she readily admits, “Something I’ve
always tried to work on is base running. I don’t know what I’m
doing. I just run. Every time I get the steal sign, I think, ‘O my god,
I’m going to get thrown out.’”
Not likely. She has swiped 82 bases in 89 attempts for a success rate of
92.1 percent.
When asked if she realizes how good she is, she quickly and emphatically
says, “No.
I’m like, ‘holy cow!’ When I watch the other girls, I think
that everyone is lots better than me. I think Shannon [Arendt, ’04]
is an unbelievable athlete and way better than me.”
Arendt has been at Burris’ side in both volleyball and softball for
four years. She has been nearly as prolific as Burris in both sports, earning
all-conference
honors in softball and volleyball and all-region honors in the former. Arendt
and Burris were taking the same speech class during the Winter Term, and
Arendt got up in front of the class and talked about her teammate. An embarrassed
Burris said it moved her to tears to hear her friend speak so highly of her.
That humility does not go unnoticed by her coaches.
"Sometimes [student-athletes] really don’t get how good they are,” Tatro
says. “For her, it helps keep her hungry for knowledge and humble.
I think that’s why she is so respected. Even though she is as talented
as she is, she would be the last person to say it or think it.”
Marlowe was working with a young team in 2003, but the freshmen took notice
of Burris and the way she plays the game.
"She’s a rare find. She not only has a passion for sports, but
for everyone who is around her, for her teammates,” Marlowe says. “Some
of her younger teammates said to me that seeing what Jenny does makes them
want
to
be better, and not just in the volleyball sense.”
Chicago Cubs Hall of Fame shortstop Ernie Banks was known for his quick
smile and his love of the game, which was reflected in his famous saying, “Let’s
play two.”
Jenny Burris would be the first to agree. Must be something about shortstops.