Balancing Act

Go ahead, try to find a squeamish gene in Lisa Feigenbaum’s body.

It’s hopeless.

She holds a beaker of hydrochloric acid like it’s a glass of milk. She explores hiking trails in Yosemite as if she were prancing around the Northridge Fashion Center.

She pitches her tent, knows how to start a campfire and doesn’t mind gathering wood in the forest, ignoring spiders and critters of all shapes and sizes.

Bring out a piano and she’ll play Bach and Beethoven. She creates ceramic glasswork, skis the Cornice run at Mammoth, plays doubles in tennis and third base in softball.

She scored 1520 on the Scholastic Assessment Test and has a 4.9 grade-point average this semester. She beat out 274 seniors to become valedictorian at Harvard-Westlake High. She plans to attend Harvard University.

She’s a 17-year-old wonder woman who’s as comfortable working with liquid nitrogen in the chemistry lab as she is throwing out a runner on the softball diamond.

Feigenbaum’s success requires an amazing juggling act. She gives priority to academics and athletics while fulfilling her family motto to “exercise the mind and body.”

“She’s the best of the best,” Headmaster Thomas Hudnut said.

Feigenbaum is batting .308 for a Harvard-Westlake softball team that is 12-2 overall and 4-0 in the Mission League. She was a doubles player for the Wolverines’ Southern Section Division III championship tennis team.

Sports, ceramics and piano--those are the activities she does to relax. Her ceramics teacher calls her the best student he’s had in 30 years. But math and science are what challenge her mind and pique her curiosity.

“For science, I’m always intrigued to learn how things work in the world and understand why certain things are going on,” she said. “In biology, physics and chemistry, we’re always learning things that explain everyday phenomena.”

Feigenbaum is a virtuoso in almost everything she does. As a toddler, she put together puzzles faster than adults.

Her father, Leonard, a doctor who grew up in New York, introduced her to stickball at age 7, handing her a broomstick and pitching to her with a tennis ball she would hit against the garage door. She played club softball for the Mid Valley Magic and Valley Breeze.

She learned tennis from her mother, Paula, who played the sport in high school and college. She has three sisters, ages 15, 13 and 10. All play sports and excel in the classroom.

The real achievement for Feigenbaum has been finding enough time to go to school, do homework, play sports and hang out with friends.

“Somehow, when I came home and there were a million things to do, they got done,” she said. “There are times when balancing everything gets hard, when all my classes seem to have a test and paper the same day, and we have a big game the same day.”

But Feigenbaum would never think of focusing solely on academics or athletics. In her mind, each helps the other.

“By exercising one, you strengthen the other,” she said.

Come graduation day, Feigenbaum will be asked to offer insight and wisdom to her classmates.

Then it’s off to college, where she hopes to keep playing softball and continue exploring the unending boundaries of math and science.

Maybe she’ll become a doctor or engineer. Maybe she’ll make a scientific discovery or invent a product.

One thing is certain: Whatever Feigenbaum decides to do, she’ll do it well.

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They were teenagers in the 1970s who attended Monroe High and played on championship football and baseball teams under coaches Harry Frum, Ken McKenna and Denny Holt.

Now their sons, daughters and nephews are entering high school and carrying on their families’ athletic success.

At Chatsworth, hot-hitting sophomore outfielder Brian Lee is the son of Randy Lee, former Monroe quarterback. Catcher Danny Dominguez’s uncle is Gus Dominguez, former Monroe pitcher.

Sophomore baseball player Casey Belmonte of Simi Valley is the son of Phil Belmonte, former Monroe infielder.

Outfielder Jim Milkovich, Chaminade’s leading hitter, is the son of Ed Milkovich, former Monroe football player.

One of Valencia’s best freshman baseball players next season is Danny Worth, son of Wendall Worth, former Monroe pitcher.

Arriving at Hart in 2001 will be football player Joe Bernardi and his twin sister, Briana, a softball player. They are the children of Gary Bernardi, former Monroe receiver.

Monroe coaches only wish the alumni would start sending their kids back to the North Hills campus.

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The dominant pitching of teammate Matt Harrington has overshadowed a splendid season by left fielder Drew Kennedy of Palmdale, a transfer from Highland.

Kennedy is batting .518 with 30 runs batted in.

“If I see the ball anywhere in the zone, I hit it,” Kennedy said.

Kennedy came to Palmdale known more for his pitching, but Coach Lance Pierson immediately gave him the chance to hit and hasn’t regretted the decision.

“Coach believes in me that I can go out and do the job,” Kennedy said.

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Eric Sondheimer’s local column appears Wednesday and Sunday. He can be reached at (818) 772-3422 or eric.sondheimer@latimes.com