NO REST FOR THE WEARY

Gynson Robley knows what it’s like throw footballs one day and chase down rebounds on a basketball court the next.

The Indian Creek High School senior is one of the many Johnson County athletes who quickly shift attention from their fall sport of choice to the winter sports season.

Rarely is it easy due to the requisite rust.

“Going from football to basketball there are completely different obstacles to tackle. You’ve got to work hard and keep your body in shape,” said the 6-foot-5 Robley, who as the Braves starting quarterback watched his season end Oct. 30 — or 10 days before the first day of basketball practice.

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“Sometimes during football season I will go on the track and run a mile or two. Or I’ll go to the gym once or twice a week to shoot some baskets. I never thought about giving up on either sport. I’ve played both since I was 4 years old.”

Every scenario is different for retraining one’s muscles in a relatively brief period of time. Some athletes shift from tennis to swimming, others volleyball to basketball or maybe football to wrestling.

Center Grove junior Val Clark is coming off a cross-country season in which she was the Trojans’ No. 1 girls runner as well as a state finalist (she finished 48th out of 207 runners).

Now she’s immersed in all things basketball. This means a change both in Clark’s running pace, the surface on which she runs as a backup guard and, perhaps most importantly, getting her shot back.

Like Robley, she sneaks in some gym time throughout the course of the fall sports season to better prepare herself for basketball season.

“My main sport is basketball, so even when I’m running cross-country I usually go to open gyms so that I can play two to three times a week. My main goal is to pursue a (college) basketball scholarship, so I always have to stay on top of what I need to work on,” Clark said.

“Cross-country means everything to me when I’m in-season, but basketball is my priority.”

Running in the fall is a great way for Clark to maintain or perhaps even improve her level of conditioning. Once the basketball season concludes, she shifts back to a strictly running mindset as a member of the school’s track team.

Being a three-sport athlete makes Clark something of a dinosaur.

“At times it can get stressful, especially in the postseason. It always works out in the end because I have great coaches,” she said.

Greenwood senior Maddy Renfro achieved this same trifecta — varsity letters in cross-country, basketball and track — as a sophomore but hasn’t done so since.

Her transition will include switching from one of the Woodmen starting guards in basketball to someone valued in track in no less than three events (3,200 relay, 800, 1,600 relay).

“Basketball is actually a lot harder on your body, but I think it’s a pretty easy transition because there is a lot of running in both. In cross-country and track you’re focused on just running, but with basketball you’re trying to get your shot back, too,” Renfro said.

The time separating Mackenzie Blazek’s favorite sports proved to be about as brief as can be.

A 6-2 sophomore at Whiteland Community High School, Blazek is a force both for the volleyball and basketball programs.

“We were eliminated in the first round of the (volleyball) sectional, and the very next day we had basketball practice,” Blazek said. “I got used to it pretty quickly. Going from one to the other is kind of like second nature.”

The same holds true for Center Grove senior Drew Conrad, the team’s punter who because of the Trojans qualifying for the Class 6A state championship game will start his basketball season a little later than usual.

Conrad, whose role on the football team doesn’t include much running, notes his biggest adjustment is working through the aches that come with the initial days of basketball practice.

“The first week or two there’s a lot of soreness, muscles I haven’t used since early summer. I try to shoot 50 to 100 free throws in my driveway every day if I can,” Conrad said. “I like both sports a lot and representing my school and my community.”

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TWO-SPORT ATHLETES

CENTER GROVE

Isabelle Andersen — Soccer and basketball

Devin Baxter — Football and wrestling

Val Clark — Cross-country and basketball

Drew Conrad — Football and basketball

Lucas Doyle — Football and basketball

Parker Ferguson — Football and basketball

Jonah Hays — Football and wrestling

Cory Heinrichs — Football and wrestling

Gleason Mappes — Football and wrestling

Rhett Mappes — Football and wrestling

Don Mason — Football and wrestling

Ella Thompson — Soccer and basketball

Connor Walsh — Cross-country and swimming

Jacob Willis — Football and wrestling

EDINBURGH

Jacob Atha — Football and basketball

Makenzie Hill — Golf and basketball

Brianna Howard — Volleyball and basketball

Addison Lollar — Cross-country and basketball

Vanessa McManaway — Golf and basketball

Kyle Pendleton — Tennis and basketball

Kierra Richards — Golf and basketball

Megan Rooks — Volleyball and basketball

Marcus Ruch — Football and basketball

Allie Schooler — Volleyball and basketball

Abigail Scrogham — Golf and basketball

Shane Smith — Football and basketball

Mariah Weddle — Golf and basketball

Emma Westerfeld — Golf and basketball

FRANKLIN

Justin Beasley — Football/soccer and basketball

Trevor Vancleeve — Soccer and basketball

Bryce Wentzell — Soccer and basketball

Maci Eads — Soccer and basketball

Sarah Sullivan — Soccer and basketball

Allison Barnard — Soccer and basketball

Delanie Hill — Soccer and basketball

Makenna Bertsch — Soccer and basketball

Madeline Daily — Golf and swimming

Dominic Alvey — Football and wrestling

Manny Cheam — Football and wrestling

Jacob Lamping — Football and wrestling

Alec MacLennan — Football and wrestling

Jake Moore — Football and wrestling

Ranger Soots — Football and wrestling

Jacob Rockey — Tennis and basketball

Carly Sandrock — Cross-country and swimming

GREENWOOD (N/A)

INDIAN CREEK

Gynson Robley — Football and basketball

Bryce Hogue — Football and basketball

Max Murr — Football and swimming

Cody Hart — Tennis and swimming

Nick Clevenger — Football and wrestling

Jordan Summers — Football and wrestling

Elijah Dunn — Football and wrestling

Joe Clevenger — Football and wrestling

Grant Goforth — Football and wrestling

Brad Trietsch — Football and wrestling

Baylee Wilson — Volleyball and basketball

WHITELAND

Mackenzie Blazek — Volleyball and basketball

Tommy Copeland — Football and wrestling

Matthias Ebeyer — Football and wrestling

Brandon Perry – Football and wrestling

Anthony Schantz — Football and basketball

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Mike Beas
Mike Beas is the Daily Journal's veteran sports reporter. He has been to more than 200 Indiana high schools, including 1990s visits to Zionsville to profile current Boston Celtics GM Brad Stevens, Gary Roosevelt to play eventual Purdue All-American Glenn Robinson in HORSE (didn’t end well) and Seeger to visit the old gym in which Stephanie White, later the coach of the Indiana Fever, honed her skills in pickup games involving her dad and his friends. He can be reached at [email protected].