Playing three sports is just the beginning
By Joe Vanden Acker
Lawrence Today magazine, Spring 2007
She is the Lawrence University version of the Energizer bunny. Stephanie Kliethermes ’07
just keeps going and going and going.
Kliethermes is a 5-foot-5 blonde blur, a bundle of energy so full of life she
makes the average toddler look downright comatose.
The senior from Elmhurst, Ill., is a rare breed on a college campus, a true three-sport
athlete. She is captain of the volleyball team, as well as a reserve guard on
the basketball team, and she competes in outdoor track and field as a jack of
all trades in the sprints, hurdles, and jumps.
“I honestly couldn’t tell you which sport is my favorite. Is it fair
for me to say whichever one is in season?” she asks while flashing her
trademark infectious smile. “Each one is different, and I like them for
different reasons. I have a different role on each team, and that keeps it fresh
and new.”
While Lawrence has its share of student-athletes who compete in all three seasons,
notably runners participating in cross country in the fall, indoor track in the
winter, and outdoor track in the spring, Kliethermes is unique. She masters skills
in three distinctly different disciplines with her three sports, a task easier
said than done.
Did we mention that, in addition to her athletic exploits, Kliethermes is a double
major in English and mathematics and a member of the Academic All-Midwest Conference
Team? If that wasn’t quite enough, she also is the vice-president of the
Lawrence University Community Council (LUCC) and president of the Student-Athlete
Advisory Committee (SAAC). Just to top it off, she is head tutor at the Center
for Teaching and Learning.
“Anyone else, you would question how she does it. I’ve never once
questioned it with her,” head women’s basketball coach Amy Proctor
says. “I couldn’t imagine her having it any other way. We knew before
she came to Lawrence how much she had to offer.
“From day one, you spend two minutes with her and you can’t help
but smile. It’s contagious. She’s contagious.”
Kliethermes is hard-pressed to see anything different about the way she approaches
each day. It is something she has been doing for so long that it is very normal
to her. From her childhood days of ice skating and gymnastics to 15 years of
playing soccer to her current three-sport schedule, Kliethermes is as versatile
as she is energetic.
“Every day is so different. I love being busy, because I wouldn’t
know what to do with myself if I wasn’t busy,” she says.
“It’s just who I am, and it’s how I’ve always played
sports. I love playing with passion and energy. You shouldn’t play just
because you’re good at it or because someone else wants you to.”
Kelly Mulcahy ’08 knows about two-thirds of what Kliethermes goes through
on a yearly basis. The junior is a standout on both the volleyball and basketball
squads and marvels at her teammate’s diversity.
“I have no idea how she does it,” Mulcahy says. “Coming here
in August and participating in athletics through March completely drains me.
I can’t imagine doing it August through May. I have a tremendous respect
for what she goes through, mentally, with all three sports.”
While Kliethermes is one of the standouts in volleyball, she is more of a role
player in basketball, but her commitment to that sport never wanes.
“I know she loves track dearly,” Mulcahy says. “She could quit
basketball any day and go to indoor track, but she has so much dedication to
the basketball team. She can focus all her energy on the season in which she’s
playing whether or not she’s playing a lot.”
First-year head volleyball coach Matt Schoultz says Kliethermes was the star
at the team’s post-season banquet because of that passion and energy.
“She was a big part of the highlight video, because she put so much of
herself into the matches,” Schoultz says. “Her facial expressions
and the way she acts on the court are such a huge boost to the entire team. She
is just an excellent leader. Her attitude and her work ethic — you couldn’t
ask for anything better.”
That is high praise for someone who thought they were not good enough to play
collegiate volleyball. Kliethermes didn’t join the volleyball
team until her sophomore season.
“I intended to do just basketball and track. Volleyball just kind of fell
into place,” she says. “I was really hesitant to do it at first.
I didn’t think I was good enough. It turned out to be a great experience.”
A two-year captain, Kliethermes settled into the role of the team’s libero,
leader, and spark plug.
“I’m trying to talk her into coming back next year, but she’s
not going for it,” Schoultz says with a laugh.
He has good reason to want her to return. As the libero, a defensive specialist
who plays in the back row, Kliethermes averaged 4.56 digs per game and had
24 service aces in 2006.
“I personally think she should have been an all-conference player at her
position,” Schoultz says, “because I think she outplayed a lot of
the liberos in our league. She’s just an incredible kid. I’m going
to miss her.”
Kliethermes, who had a career-high 33 digs in a match this past season, finished
her career with 1,141 digs, fourth on Lawrence’s career list. Her 520
digs in 2006 was the third-highest season total in school history.
The numbers tell the story of a standout volleyball player who also has to
overcome asthma, which she has battled for the last two years.
“We cannot get it under control,” Kliethermes says. “I would
be lying if I didn’t say it was frustrating, but it’s something
I’ve learned to deal with.”
Of her three sports, volleyball is easiest when it comes to competing with
the asthma. She admits it is “rough” to play basketball and run
track with this disease.
“You learn to accept it and push through,” Kliethermes says with
some pretty firm resolve in her voice. “I’m limited in practice,
and I have the green light to stop when I need to. It’s limiting, but
it’s not forcing me to stop. I can still play and run.”
The asthma has forced Kliethermes into a different role on the basketball team.
She doesn’t lead her team with play on the court, but Proctor believes
her basketball teammates look up to her. Both coaches commented that Kliethermes
has all the intangibles, including a tremendous work ethic and great leadership
skills, one would desire in a player.
Kliethermes then chimes in to say that simply because of the nature of the
sports, with the running demanded by basketball and track, it has been easier
for her
to thrive on the volleyball court but hasn’t lessened her love for track
or the hardwood.
It is not shocking that, with her glass-half-full state of mind, Kliethermes
would be able to put a positive spin on having asthma.
“It’s shown me my career path,” she says.
Kliethermes, who has a 3.655 grade point average, plans to head to graduate
school at the University of Michigan or Ohio State University after graduation
in
June to study biostatistics.
She explains that biostatistics is the statistical
end of biology research on public health issues. Asthma, obviously, is her
main area of interest.
Then again, what doesn’t interest Kliethermes’ multi-faceted mind?
“I have so many interests, and I can’t narrow them down,” she
says. “That’s why I’m a double major. I couldn’t choose
which one I wanted, so I did both.”
Choosing areas of study as opposite as math and English is definitely distinctive.
Most people tend to be good with words or with numbers, not both.
“I don’t resolve them,” Kliethermes says of her fields of study. “That’s
why I worked with both of them. I enjoy reading and writing, but I enjoy math
as well. I would be a bio major if I could.”
Much like volleyball, Kliethermes had to be pushed a bit into her role in student
government. It was LUCC President Adrell Bullock ’07 who gave her the
shove.
“I’ve always been interested in student government, but when Adrell
approached me, I was a little hesitant,” she says.
She agreed to run on the ticket with Bullock and now enjoys the interaction
with various groups on campus.
Kliethermes also spoke passionately about her involvement with SAAC. For someone
who expects so much of herself, she just as easily gives to others. Be it tutoring
students at Richmond Elementary School or working with a group of Special Olympians,
that sort of community engagement is important to Kliethermes.
“We focus on community service. That’s what I love about SAAC,” she
says.
“It’s a way to give back to the community, and it’s putting
athletes in the light they deserve to be in.”
When you look at her list of daily accomplishments and life commitments, it
brings to mind that old Army recruiting slogan, “We do more before 6:00
a.m. than most people do all day.”
For Kliethermes, pursuing excellence in academics and athletics, helping run
a student government, or giving back to the community is all in a day’s
work.
