Engineering Student Athletes Continued

UT's head majorette, Jennifer Whitehead, remembers her first urge to twirl and toss a baton.

"During a Christmas parade when I was 3, I pulled on my mother's coat and told her I wanted to be one of the girls with the shiny outfits throwing a baton," Whitehead said.

By the age of 5, Whitehead was competing in twirling events, which led to four years of performances with her high school marching band in Maryville, Tenn. Despite her athletic skill and precision with a baton, it was academic opportunity that prompted her to attend UT, Knoxville.

Whitehead completed her B.S. in chemical engineering in December and immediately jumped into the environmental engineering graduate program. With plans to pursue a career in wastewater treatment research, Whitehead is currently studying separations of oil and water mixtures using surfactants.

"The exposure to real-world engineering activities offered by the college has been such a beneficial part of my education," Whitehead said. "The organizational and management skills I've learned from balancing classes with my responsibilities to the other majorettes have also prepared me for the future."

While she continues her education at the graduate level, Whitehead plans to remain active with the marching band.

"As long as I am on campus during football season," Whitehead said, "I want to be out there on the field."

Josh Tucker
MECHANICAL ENGINEERING

This year's UT-Georgia football showdown for many Tennessee fans was just another step toward an undefeated season, but for junior offensive tackle, Josh Tucker, the face-off marked his first starting game.

"Contributing to the team during the week or on game day is always rewarding," Tucker said. "But stepping out on the field before the first play was even more exciting than I expected." Tucker's interest in math and science and his passion for football led him to UT, Neyland Stadium and the College of Engineering.

The most enjoyable aspect of his experience in the engineering program has been coming in contact with good professors who have been willing to work with his complicated schedule. "Sometimes while sitting in class students assume that teachers aren't cool," Tucker said. "But when you meet with them out of class you see they are down-to-earth and have a lot to share through their experiences in the work force."

Although he describes his schedule as consisting of eating, studying, practicing and sleeping, he admits his success in both athletics and academics has been worth the effort.

In addition to helping his team win national recognition, Tucker's own outstanding academic record has earned him Academic All-SEC honors.

In February of 1996, Kenyail Norris and eight teammates were the first UT students to step up to the plate in women's softball competition.

"The opportunity to be a part of the first women's softball program, the atmosphere on the campus and the quality engineering program were all hard to resist," Norris said about her decision to leave Grand Prairie, Texas, her hometown near Dallas, to attend UT. Now a senior, Norris' contribution to the Lady Vols as a reliable outfielder and strong hitter has brought her regional recognition during her four years in Knoxville.

Involvement with community service and athletics throughout college and high school, Norris explained, have helped prepare her for the challenges of an engineering career. She hopes to combine her people skills with her appreciation for math and science while continuing her education in a bio-medical engineering graduate program concentrating on rehabilitation.

"I'm never really satisfied," Norris laughed. "But that can be a good thing. No matter how much I do, there will always be another goal to accomplish and another level to reach."

Injury led to opportunity for Taylor Elfervig. When he broke his foot during the last track meet of his junior year in high school, Elfervig assumed that his competition running days were over, but he didn't know that another athletic outlet would quickly fill its place.

"I'd watched the cheerleaders practice while training for track," Elfervig remembered. "Before my senior year one of my friends convinced me to give it a chance, and I ended up loving it."

Taylor Elfervig lifts teammate, Kim Zobel, at the '98 Fiesta Bowl.

Often rated top in the nation for cheering, Elfervig's school, Christian Brother's High School in Memphis, was the ideal place to learn the activity quickly. After only one year on a high school team, Elfervig was ready to compete at the college level. Now wrapping up his third year of cheering at UT, Elfervig has helped his team finish third last year and second this year at the annual National Cheerleading Competition.

"Cheering at UT has been a great experience," said Elfervig. "I know I've been fortunate to have opportunities most students don't get to enjoy such as traveling to Tempe, Ariz., for the football championship and to Orlando for national cheerleading competitions."

The same knack for versatility that helped Elfervig trade in track shoes for gym shoes has also given him an edge in his academic endeavors. This winter he began a part-time job with the Knoxville-based Home and Garden Television network.

"I chose electrical engineering because I knew it would open up a lot of doors," he said. "Fitting in cheering hasn't been easy because my courses have been tough, but now that the information is beginning to interweave, I can see the bigger picture leading to the future."

Adam Engle could swim before he could walk. "My dad didn't know how to swim even as an adult, but he was determined his children wouldn't be in the same situation," Engle said. "My parents started me in a swimming class when I was about a year old."

More than 20 years later, Engle devotes at least 20 hours a week to practice in UT's pool. His long hours of training and countless miles of gliding through the water have helped keep Tennessee's swim team in the top five in the nation during his four years in Knoxville. One highlight of his numerous competitive successes was swimming the final 50-yard leg in UT's American record-setting 200-yard medley relay in 1997.

Beyond achievements in the sport, swimming has helped Engle in his career pursuits. "People have come up to me at meets and asked if I wanted a job after seeing me compete and finding my degree and grade point average listed in the event program book," he said.

But last fall Engle created his own route into the engineering market by expanding a summer internship into a part-time job that will become a full-time position following graduation. His responsibilities at the Knoxville-based Environmental Systems Corporation will focus on programming and installing emission-monitoring data logger systems.

In addition to professional networking, swimming competition has given Engle an edge in the classroom. His success as a student as well as an athlete have earned him Academic All-American status each year of college.

"I think I have the motivation to start earlier on projects and test preparation than other students because I know what is involved with planning for long-term goals such as training for a swimming meet at the end of the season," Engle said. "In both swimming and engineering, just like any area of life, if you want to do well, you must prepare."

Engineering students aim for academic and athletic success (continued)