HighFIVE Emily Creek

Profile by Katie Newell
This HighFIVE profile appears in the 2018 Fall issue of Colorado Tennis newspaper.

Achieving success at two intrinsically different sports takes not only the hard work and dedication required to physically compete, but also relies on the unique ability to mentally prepare for fundamentally different athletic experiences. None of this is a problem, however, for Colorado competitive skier and focused netter, Emily Creek.

Emily was named All State in both skiing and tennis in her freshman year. In February, at the Colorado High School Activities Association state skiing championships, Creek won the slalom state title for Nederland with a two-run time of 1 minutes, 11.65 seconds. A couple months later, she took home the Girls 4A High School No. 4 Doubles State Tennis title competing for Niwot (earning her First Team Honors in 4A) .

The now sophomore, who also competes on Team Summit ski team out of Copper Mountain, was recently included in the August 2018 edition of Sports Illustrated. For skiing, competing in a variety of events including slalom, downhill and Super G is her short term goal, but ultimately her sight is set on securing an opportunity to ski at a D1 University.

Introduced as a child to many sports by her parents, Mark and Linda Creek, both tennis and skiing rose to the top and she found that each of them challenged her in unique ways.

“I was drawn to skiing because of the speed and being outside,” she said of the winter sport and is especially passionate about the Slalom. When asked if her parents ski with her she jokes that, “her dad just tries to keep up.”

In tennis, Emily wants to continue improving, setting her sights on playing No. 1 doubles or potentially No. 3 singles.

“Tennis is fun and a great way to cross-train,” she explains of the less serious of her two chosen sports and “prefers doubles because of the team component.”

The contrast between skiing and tennis, from preparation through execution, is something Emily appreciates. She feels the differences in each sport have given her complimentary physical and mental skills, as well as an increased ability to deal with the stress of competition.

“Tennis lasts longer,” she said, “and your opponent changes throughout the course of the match so you have to be analytical about the game.  I feel less pressure in tennis so I might just go out that day and work on something specific such as a topspin forehand.”

In contrast, she said ski races “can last for mere seconds” and it’s just her against the course — which isn’t going to change during the race. It requires high levels of focus.

“There isn’t very much time to get mad at yourself,” Emily jokes, adding that “you can’t control what other people are going to do that day, so you just have to do your best.”

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