Contact: Clark Teuscher, Sports Information Director, 630-637-5302
(written by Hannah Bevis, Student Sports Information Assistant)

Sep. 28, 2015 - Most college athletes have been competing since kindergarten, practicing and playing their whole lives to try and play at one of the highest levels. But for some, like senior Kelly Vazquez, it wasn't until later in life that she found out she had a passion and a talent for golf.

"I was homeschooled until my junior year of high school, and my dad said, 'You should play a sport, it'll help you transition to public school," said Vazquez. "I went out, had never swung a club before and just showed up at tryouts with a new box of clubs. He asked me to try out for a week and said if I hated it, I could quit. And it just took a week for me to get hooked."

Before her junior year, Vazquez had never picked up a golf club in her life. By the end of her high school career, she had won two consecutive Most Valuable Player awards for Plainfield Central High School and was named captain of the team her senior year. Since she was new to golf, she poured in extra time learning all she could and becoming a more dedicated student of the game.

"I'd drive to practice and stay hours after just hitting balls because I loved it so much," said Vazquez.

She's carried that success on the green over to North Central, where she's played for four years and has seen her scores improve every season. She was named North Central's MVP her junior year and she was recently named to the Women's Golf Coaches Association (WGCA) All-American Scholar Team. Last season, she was the team's third best player with an average score of 90.1 strokes per 18-hole round. This year, she's hitting around 90 nearly every match and remains on the team's varsity squad. Her team finished third in the College Conference of Illinois & Wisconsin (CCIW) Championships last year, and she thinks they can perform even better this year.

"Our team looks really strong this year, which is awesome, but so much of being an athlete and specifically a golfer, you need your team's support," said Vazquez.  "When they're standing behind you, you feel like you can succeed in anything... it's a sisterhood that's really special. There's something special about a team, and you only have four years to experience that."

Vazquez has performed well not only on the golf course, but in the classroom as well. Originally a chemistry major, Vazquez switched to physics because "chemistry didn't have enough math," which she loves. Now she has plans to go to graduate school after she finishes at NCC, and she respects being a student-athlete on campus because for her, both are equally important.

"As a student athlete, the student has to come before the athlete part. I can't succeed on the course unless I'm succeeding in the classroom," she said.

If she's catching people's attention with her talent for golf on the course, her academics and involvement on campus are just as noteworthy off of it. She's gotten two internships at prestigious laboratories Argonne and Fermilab, has made the Dean's list multiple times, is a part of the Blue Key honor society as well as the Student Members of the American Chemical society, tutors at Edge, and is also currently the vice-president of Focus, the campus' student-run worship services.

"I run better when I'm busy," said Vazquez. "I like to be on a crunch schedule, I think it's the competitive side in me."

It's really all about balance, she says, and in her four years at North Central she's learned how to apply that as an athlete, student, and in her personal life. When it comes down to it, she loves to compete, but it's her passion for golf that makes her experience on North Central's team so special. She hopes to continue playing for the rest of her life, but for now, she's enjoying her season year as an NCC Cardinal.

"There's something so precious wearing the Cardinal polo around, wearing our hats and all of our gear just representing our school," she says. "I'm going to miss it."

The 2015 CCIW Championship begins Thursday and runs through Saturday at Red Tail Run Golf Course in Decatur.