Norman North's Elise McGoldrick – Academic Athlete Presented by Republic Bank & Trust

By John Tranchina

Elise McGoldrick takes the same approach to her schoolwork as she does to tennis: work hard to do the best she possibly can.

The Norman North sophomore has accomplished a lot in both areas. Academically, she has maintained a 4.0 GPA, became a member of the National Honor Society, and has been accepted into a prestigious program for future engineers at the Colorado School of Mines this summer.

She also plays the cello in the Norman North Philharmonic Orchestra.

“I always try to do the best I can do in my schoolwork,” McGoldrick said. “Grades are really important to me, I try to keep a 4.0 and I really don’t like getting Bs. It can be hard sometimes (to get homework done during tennis season) but I always manage to get it done and turned in.”

She’s interested in pursuing engineering as a possible career, so this summer will be fun.

“I really want to try some chemical engineering,” she said, “because I like chemistry and this summer I got into this really good engineering camp at Colorado School of Mines for two weeks.”

On the court, she addressed a couple of weaknesses to make the varsity tennis team, and along with her No. 2 Doubles partner Clancy Tresemer, placed fifth at the Yukon Regional on April 30.

Norman North tennis coach Mike Bischoff has been impressed with her determination and how far she has come in her first varsity season.

“Back in the fall when we first started, Elise came to me after practice and asked where she was on the depth chart and what it would take to get into the top six and play varsity,” Bischoff recalled. “I told her a few things to work on and that’s what she spent the majority of the fall working on. She improved in all aspects of the game and earned a spot on the varsity team. I’m proud of the attitude and work ethic she brings every day to our team.”