Packed schedule keeps Nazareth's Chloe Birkenfeld plenty busy outside of hoops
Just how much can one person achieve in a single day? Chloe Birkenfeld is trying to find out.
Take last Saturday for example. Birkenfeld joined her Nazareth girls basketball teammates at Levelland High School for their 8 a.m. shootaround. By 9:40, she was in Lubbock with the rest of the Nazareth robotics team as they competed in the Texas-West & Panhandle Region Championships.
By noon, she was back in Levelland for lunch, then at the Texan Dome by 1:30 p.m., readying herself to perform the national anthem on the violin prior to the Region I-2A championship game. After Gruver defeated Panhandle, Birkenfeld helped the Swiftettes emerge with a dramatic win over Claude in the I-1A title game.
Birkenfeld, though, didn't have much time to celebrate.
Shortly after the game, she was back in Lubbock just in time to find out the robotics team had advanced to the finals. Before a team dinner at Walk-Ons, Birkenfeld was named one of three regional finalists for the FIRST Tech Challenge World Championships Dean's List, earning herself a spot at the state and world robotics competitions.
This may seem atypical of a normal day, but it's pretty close for Birkenfeld. The Nazareth junior is involved in just about every activity possible encompassing arts, athletics and academics. She excels in each, and won't allow herself to pick which one is her favorite.
As packed as her schedule is, Birkenfeld will have the chance to focus on one thing in particular this weekend — helping the Swiftettes win another state title.
Nazareth will return to the UIL state girls basketball tournament Thursday morning for the ninth time in the past 10 years. The Swiftettes (29-9) will square off with second-ranked Neches (32-2) in the state semifinals.
Basketball runs in the Birkenfeld family, predating Chloe by generations. She is teammates with her cousin, sophomore Brooklyn, who is also Nazareth's leading scorer. Her older brother Tanner is trying to help the boys team make their way to state as well.
For a small school like Nazareth, family bloodlines run deep, much like the Birkenfelds. Chloe understands this well, and is reminded by it each day at practice.
"So many people are related or cousins or something," Birkenfeld said. "We've all been connected in some way in the past. It's fun to see how, when you look back on the banners, you see all the different names, whose parents or aunts or uncles played together, and then now you're playing together and you're working towards the same thing."
Outside of basketball, Birkenfeld competes on the Nazareth track, tennis and cross country teams. She helped the Swiftettes win the 1A state cross country title as a freshman, and the team took second this past fall. Birkenfeld is also a cheerleader when she isn't playing herself.
She's also musically gifted, like her late grandfather, Herman. Birkenfeld first took violin lessons when she was in first grade, focusing mostly on classical pieces, and took up the fiddle in middle school. She eventually decided to stop taking lessons, having learned what she wanted to.
"My life is crazy busy," Birkenfeld said, "but I wouldn't trade it for anything else. I really enjoy everything that I do."
In addition to her post with the robotics team — recording and journaling the squad's progress, assembling the team portfolio — Birkenfeld is editor of the Paw Prints Newsletter, an experience that helped her win the state title in copy editing at last year's UIL academics competition.
As busy as she is, Birkenfeld likes having a full schedule with an assortment of responsibilities. It keeps everything fresh.
"It's good to have different seasons and stuff," Birkenfeld said. "When you start something different, you get another chance at doing well on something else. It's not like I'm just preparing for basketball season all year. I don't get burnt out on it, I guess, because there's so many different things I can enjoy throughout the different times of the year."
Despite all she's involved with, Birkenfeld said she plans to pursue medicine as her future occupation. Until then, she's enjoying her time doing a little bit of everything, and excelling at each.
After all, that is the standard at Nazareth.
"Everyone sets expectations for you to do well," Birkenfeld said, "because you don't just join something just because. You join it to be successful in it. And I think that everyone plays a factor in that in your life. The teachers and coaches and just the whole community, just supporting you with whatever you choose to do. I think that's extremely important for how well we do in everything."
UIL Class 1A state tournament
at the Alamodome, San Antonio
Thursday's semifinals
8:30 a.m. — Huckabay (39-2) vs. Irion County (29-8)
10 a.m. — Nazareth (29-9) vs. Neches (32-2)
State tournament appearances: Nazareth 31, Neches 11, Huckabay 9, Irion County 1
This article originally appeared on Lubbock Avalanche-Journal: Packed schedule keeps Nazareth's Chloe Birkenfeld plenty busy outside of hoops
