DEL NORTE— The Del Norte High School girls soccer team traveled to beat the Demons in Buena Vista 6–0 on Tuesday, April 9, a particularly full day for juniors who spent the entire morning taking the Scholastic Assessment Test (SAT).
Three players on the squad attend Creede High School almost 40 miles up the Rio Grande from Del Norte. A centerback, junior Grace Whitehorn described her morning in Creede before the road trip to play.
“They didn’t want class bells to interfere with the testers,” Whitehorn explained, “so we had to board the bus at 7:30 a.m. to be at a church in town for the test at 7:45 a.m.”
The proctor was late, and Whitehorn didn’t get to start answering questions until around 8:30 a.m. Students took a 15-minute break after the first of four exams for the morning. Following two back-to-back sections, they broke for five minutes and finished the final test at 12:15 p.m.
Sensitive to testing week, Del Norte Head Coach (and Principal) Russell Randolph pushed the bus departure time to the limit. The players from Creede made it by 1:05 p.m. Weather and traffic cooperated to leave plenty of time to warm up in the Buena Vista High School stadium.
“Everyone else was planning to chill after the test for the rest of the day,” Whitehorn recalled. “But I was glad to have a soccer game to distract my mind.”
Del Norte Junior Kendra Parra also labored through the SAT all morning. Parra ran cross-country in the fall to be in shape for basketball season, a successful run to a third-place finish at the state 2A tournament. Parra averaged 21 points a game on the hardwood, and she’s racking up goals and assists on the soccer field too.
After nearly four hours of testing all morning, Parra started the game in Buena Vista by scoring an early goal. She forced an own goal moments later to put the Tigers up 2–0. The junior striker finished a one-on-one before halftime and scored twice more in the first nine minutes of the second half. A brave challenge in the box from Parra earned a penalty kick for the Tigers and a 6–0 victory.
With classes and testing the following morning, Parra and the team headed back to Del Norte. By the end of the day, Whitehorn had traveled more than 280 miles, played an entire soccer game, and returned home late to prepare for another day of school and soccer practice.