Leven's Positive Demeanor
Impacts NHS Teams
Endorsing the premise of togetherness and believing that "we
can do more than me", Lauren Leven makes the Newkirk High
School sports teams that she is a part of better, both through
her performance and her sheer presence. And as a three-sport
athlete, Leven's impact is profound as she bolsters the Lady
Tiger softball, basketball, and track and field teams.
But the scope of Leven's contributions extends beyond the realm
of sports. The senior is an exemplary student-athlete, excelling
in the classroom and also as a productive member of the NHS student
body. She carries a perfect 4.0 grade-point average, and along
with her athletic endeavors, Leven also is involved in numerous
activities. And one of her chief objectives is to use her upbeat
demeanor to help unify the NHS sports teams.
Leven described her approach to athletics, offering, "I
always try to have a positive attitude, really in anything. I
just try to keep a smile on my face as I do it and have fun because
that's probably the most important thing to me is making sure
you're having fun at what you're doing. And I just always want
to work as hard as I can at it because you never know whenever
you're not going to be able to get a chance to do it again."
Persistence is another of Leven's strengths, and she has impressed
her coaches with many of her traits. NHS Head Girls' Basketball
Coach Jeff Zinn stated, "She has a great attitude, and I
think her best basketball playing is ahead of her. She has all
the attributes you need to be a good basketball player as far
as she can run, she's strong, and she shoots the ball well. I
really look for her to grow in confidence this year and really
have a break-out senior year."
NHS Head Softball Coach Brad Larimer observed many of the same
qualities in Leven, a three-year starter for the Lady Tigers
on the diamond. "Lauren has been very good for our program,
just like all our seniors," proclaimed Larimer. "She
played in the outfield for three years and did a great job out
there, and I felt like she got better each year. We really worked
on fly balls and how to chase them down, she has a good arm,
and hitting-wise, I really thought she was as consistent as anybody
we've had. I really enjoyed having Lauren on our team. She worked
hard and definitely gave us everything she had. She's a great
kid and a great person. ... It makes it easy as a coach when
you have girls like Lauren that are going to put forth the effort
that they do and try to do things right to begin with. She just
has a work-hard attitude."
And Leven has displayed versatility on the track to run on all
four relay teams and in a variety of short- and middle-distance
races individually. NHS Head Track & Field Coach Jeff Wilson
assessed, "I think Lauren has a very good attitude and a
very good outlook. She brings that positive attitude, and she
also brings a good work ethic to our team. She has that team-first
attitude. She's willing to run any race that I ask her to. She's
really kind of a joy to have around. She comes in with a smile
on her face every day and is just a really fine person, I think."
Leven is the 17-year-old daughter and oldest of three children
of John and Beth Leven. She has two younger brothers, Jordan
and Chris.
Along with her roles on the NHS softball, basketball, and track
teams, Leven serves as president of the senior class, vice-president
of Student Council, parliamentarian of National Honor Society,
and a member of Bleacher Creatures, Fellowship of Christian Athletes,
Future Farmers of America, and Gifted And Talented Students.
In FFA, Leven shows both cattle and sheep and also participates
in speech contests. As part of her oratory exploits, she earned
a trip to Washington, D.C. last summer in a contest sponsored
by Kay Electric Cooperative. Outside of school and sports, Leven's
interests revolve around being outdoors and spending time with
friends and family.
For the impetus behind her many activities, Leven explained,
"I just like to do stuff, I guess, to keep myself busy,
and it's fun. You get to know a lot of people that way."
Her experiences have provided perspective for her life. Leven
lists God and family as her top priorities along with her friends,
school, and sports.
"I just try to work hard at everything that I do,"
Leven detailed in a self-description. "I always try to realize
that I may not have a chance to ever do it again, so I want to
give it my best every time I do it. I try to be positive and
have a smile on my face."
Her favorite cuisine is Italian food, and the pastime she enjoys
most is spending time in the gym shooting the basketball. Humanities,
and the art-related projects that are involved, stands out as
her subject of choice at NHS.
Leven takes pride in her studies and credits her parents for
emphasizing the importance of achieving in school. "They've
always encouraged me to do my best," she praised.
In the future, Leven plans to attend Oklahoma State University
and major in agricultural communication. Eventually, she intends
to pursue a degree in veterinary medicine.
However, she still has plenty in store for the remainder of her
senior year at NHS, and that starts on the hardwood. In the Lady
Tiger basketball team's season-opening victory at Perry, Leven
entered the varsity starting five for the first time in her career,
and she wants to build on that outing.
Asserting that she wants to do all she can to improve the chemistry
among the players on the squad, Leven disclosed, "In basketball,
our goal is to win the State championship, and just really, getting
into the (Class 3A) State Tournament would be great. I just want
to make it a good team experience."
And beyond basketball, she is determined to reach great heights
as well. "I want to make it to State in track in something,
not as an alternate," Leven underscored. "I've been
an alternate the last three years."
She added, "I want to win Regionals again. That would be
good. And I just hope we can get as many people to the State
meet as we can."
Leven also emphasized, "I want to keep my 4.0 (GPA) and
be a Valedictorian. That's one of my main goals for school."
As a member of the softball team, she attained several of her
goals during a rewarding senior campaign. A career .243 hitter
and speedy defender, Leven scored 18 runs and drove in 13 more
to rank among the team leaders in both categories for the Lady
Tigers, who posted an 18-18 record and brought home the District
title with two hard-fought triumphs at Tonkawa.
"I just really wanted to get past Districts," Leven
revealed. "That was my main goal, and we accomplished that,
so that was really good. That was the first time that's happened
since I've been in high school, so that was exciting."
In her three years as a starter, the Lady Tigers produced a 49-47
record, but she relished her senior year the most. "The
team chemistry in that sport this year was awesome," Leven
expressed. "It was probably my favorite year I've had so
far. It was really fun, and I'm going to miss that a lot. Being
able to get past Districts with them was fun. ... I think we
just all knew we could do it, like everybody together. We were
just really tight, and I think that was most of it, actually."
Leven's sports career began at age four, getting introduced to
softball at the T-ball level. When she entered Newkirk Middle
School at the sixth-grade level, she tried both basketball and
track and has participated in all three sports since.
As a year-round competitor, Leven understands that sports provide
valuable lessons that she can apply later in life. She stressed
the motivation behind her status as a three-sport athlete, projecting,
"I don't like to quit things, anyways, and that's kept me
in mostly, and I like playing sports."
Her sport of choice is a toss-up between basketball and softball.
Leven related, "Basketball is probably the most intense,
and softball is probably the most fun, and it's kind of hard
to distinguish which one I like better, but I guess it depends
on which one I'm playing (at the specific time)."
As one of just two seniors on the NHS girls' basketball team
along with Megan Sweaney, Leven embraces her leadership role
and tries to work with Sweaney to help their younger teammates
in a constructive way. "We just try to be good, positive
leaders," Leven stated. "We're not verbally loud, but
we just try to do things by showing them. It should be fun, I
think, and not so much telling you what to do. I think we see
our role more showing than telling."
As a third-generation student at NHS, she has made the most of
her upbringing in a small-school setting. Leven also savors life
as Lady Tiger athlete, forwarding, "I like the tradition
that comes with it, especially with basketball, knowing that
you're part of a good, winning program and knowing that you have
a standard to uphold. I like the fact that we're known to work
hard and to be good athletes."
For her best sports experience, Leven selected the relationships
she has made. "I appreciate the friends I've made through
the whole thing and the chemistry that you can develop between
different people as you go throughout teams, and some are different
than others. And especially this year's softball team, our chemistry
was just something I don't think I will ever forget because it
was really good. I think that was pretty outstanding."
Now, she is trying to create a similar environment on the basketball
team. Leven commented on the exhilarating comeback for a 29-24,
season-opening win at Perry, depicting, "I was really happy
to come out with a victory, knowing that we were all nervous.
I think that we're going to get better, and we're making strides
towards that. That's our main goal, to improve each time."
Next up for the Lady Tigers is their home opener on Friday, November
30 against the Frontier Lady Mustangs at 6:30pm. The first tournament
of the season the Frontier Shoot-Out arrives the
following week (Monday-Saturday, December 3-8) when the NHS girls
will face their fellow Lady Tigers from Crescent on Monday, Dec.
3 at 7:00pm.
Newkirk's girls won the team title a year ago, and Leven would
love to repeat that accomplishment. She promoted, "We're
going to have to play our best, no matter what, and we're going
to have to continue to improve every time we play."
Pointing out the keys to basketball season, Leven remarked, "We
just have to work hard every day and continue to work on our
team chemistry. We need to realize that nothing is going to come
easy, so we're definitely going to have to work hard at it."
And she will take a similar approach to make her entire senior
year at NHS stand out. "I want to keep making strides in
everything I do, like my grades and in sports," Leven finished.
"Hopefully, we can reach our goals in basketball and in
track, and I think that will make it special, definitely."
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