HOUGHTON, N.Y. -- Houghton College senior student-athlete
Christel Enriquez-Fisher likes to stay active. But the Colorado-native took it to the extreme on Saturday, competing in the NCCAA Cross Country National Championship in the morning and wrapping up the day on the court with the women's basketball team.
Enriquez-Fisher, who has been nursing a hamstring for the last two weeks, finished 105th out of 180 runners in the championship 5K course at Houghton's Field of Dreams, took a few hours to recover and then played a key role in Houghton's 58-50 season-opening win over SUNY Canton at the Nielsen Center. The 5-5 guard finished with 12 points, nine rebounds, five assists and seven steals in 37 minutes of action.
Heading into the day, she was a little worried how her hamstring would hold up. Her practice time in both sports had been limited by the trainers and coaches leading up to the weekend, but she wasn't going to miss out on her final career race and wanted to be there for her hoops teammates. "I was nervous about how I was going to perform," says Enriquez-Fisher. "My biggest worry was I was going to injury it in the race and I wouldn't be able to play in the basketball game how I wanted to.
"It wasn't one of my best races. But there was a moment I saw my basketball teammates on the course cheering me one and it inspired me. Then that night at the basketball game, my cross country teammates were there. It was really cool to experience both teams supporting me on the same day. It made me feel really loved, that's for sure."
Enriquez-Fisher says she played two sports in the same season in high school (softball and track), but this is the first time she ever played in two events on the same day.
She says the rush of a close basketball game kept her energized and kept her mind off her injury. "The last two mintues of the game there was a point where I said 'you aren't going to lose this game.' I told myself to finish strong."
Waking up Sunday morning, Enriquez-Fisher says she definitely felt the effects of her busy Saturday. "I woke up for chuch and sat on my bed hunched over for about five minutes. Then I went to church, came home and just relaxed and studied the rest of the day."
Enriquez-Fisher doesn't get much more time to rest. She and her basketball teammates return to action on Tuesday when they travel to take on Hilbert College in Buffalo.