SAN DIEGO’S GENERAL PRACTITIONERS

Angel Leath, Morse, City Eastern League

Angel Leath may be the only nine-plus sport athlete who will specialize as a senior.

This is the plan for Leath, 17, a junior at Morse High School, who has participated in varsity volleyball, basketball and track for the past three years and has also played club volleyball.

Time management and her desire to continue with club volleyball were factors in her decision to play only volleyball as a senior at Morse.

It’s not so much that she is tired of the other two or that her grades are suffering or she needs to get a job. It’s just that Leath is hoping for a college scholarship, and volleyball is the sport in which she feels she can get it.

“In basketball I’m not really all that great,” Leath said. “And track is getting a little expensive between going to track meets and volleyball tournaments every weekend. I think I’m a lot better in volleyball than I am in track. Track is a lot more tiring than volleyball, and I’m lazy.”

Leath, who is 5-feet 10 1/2-inches tall, has been an all-league volleyball player for three years. She said there appears to be mutual interests with the University of Pacific and Hawaii concerning her volleyball future.

Still, her track accomplishments have not been insignificant. Saturday will mark the third consecutive year she has competed in the state meet when she runs the first leg in the 1,600-meter relay and the third leg in the 400 relay.

“Its really not all that hard,” she said. “I just go from one sport to another. It’s taken up 80% of my time. I haven’t had a weekend in two months.”

She’s been able to maintain what she terms “a roller coaster” 2.5 grade-point average on the strength of early-morning tutoring. Those days begin for her at 6 a.m. If the club volleyball team is practicing, she doesn’t get home until 8:30 or 9 p.m.

But Carl Leath trusts that his daughter isn’t overworking herself.

“She’s pretty smart,” he said. “If she thinks anything will hurt her, she’ll get out of it.”