Alumni News

Eleanor Crane is making the most of her time at Averett University

Jake Humphreys, Central Western Daily

It's been a trying 12 months for Eleanor Crane but the Kinross Wolaroi tennis gun is making the most of her time at Averett University as she's excelling both in the classroom and on the training court as well.

The Psychology student hasn't played a competitive match in almost a year but was recently inducted into the student-athlete honour society for excellent grades and outstanding performance in athletics.

And that's what's often overlooked when young sportspeople accept scholarships... the academics.

So many people focus on who's shooting three-pointers or who's kicking goals, while they forget about what they're at these top-tier schools to do... study.

Crane accepted the scholarship at the Virginia-based university in 2017 and her return to Tallwood is drawing near, the 22-year-old set to jump on a plane in just two months before spending a minimum of one year at home.

"I want to get my masters degree in clinical psychology, but I haven't decided if I'll do it in Australia or the United States," Crane said.

There's been no official matches for Crane in some time but she's been making up for it with a rigorous training routine, something that's prevented her from watching the Aussie Open.

"I've been following the Open but haven't been staying up to watch because we've had 6am workouts," she said.

"Training largely involves group practice. We do specific drills to work on certain aspects of our game and we do lots of point play to prepare us for matches.

"We also do fitness in the pre season and the postseason. I would have loved for Ash Barty to win but this wasn't her year."

Barty, the number one seed, was in prime position to qualify for the the women's final but was dramatically knocked out by world number 27 Karolina Muchova after winning the first set.

Japan's Naomi Osaka now shapes as the hot favourite to take out the major after she dismantled an in-form Serena Williams on Thursday afternoon.

She's been keeping up-to-date with the professional tour but not nearly as much as she's been checking in on her family as Crane keeps in contact with her loved ones as much as she can.

"I miss them a lot," she said.

"I haven't seen them in a year because of COVID. It was too expensive and challenging to come home.

"We FaceTime every week and message every day."

This Saturday marks the day that Crane and her team will be able to officially compete after an unprecedentedly long layoff.