Athlete of the Week: Will Applegate

GRAND JUNCTION, Colo. (KJCT) - Grand Junction High School Sophomore Will Applegate can hit his receivers in stride on the gridiron, hit shots on the basketball court, and hit line drives on the baseball diamond.

The Tiger Baseball team is in the midst of a resurgent 2023 campaign, and a big contributor is their big first baseman Applegate.

“we’re definitely playing as a team really well. We have we have a lot of energy right now. We were lacking that at the beginning of the season a lot. But, you know, we realized that we were lacking the energy. And we came as a group and started bringing more energy and we started winning games,” Applegate said.

While Applegate is a big back in the Tiger lineup. he is a jack of all trades. He was also under center this last season, playing quarterback for the Tiger Football Team, as well as the Center for the Tiger Basketball Team. Applegate says playing three different sports helps him be a more well-rounded athlete

“Oh, definitely. It helps like athleticism wise and getting all the reps they need for all three sports. It definitely helps for like basketball jumping, which helps for everything and running for football. It all helps a lot,” Applegate said.

But being a three-sport athlete also comes with a fair share of challenges as well according to the Grand Junction Sophomore.

“I definitely think it hinders me sometimes. But most of the time, it honestly helps me more than it hinders me so, summer is the hardest because I have basketball camps. basketball practice, football weights, baseball practice, summer ball, stuff like that,” Applegate said.

One of the most impressive things about Applegate, he is still only a sophomore. That means he has a lot more touchdowns, hits, and rebounds ahead of him.

“I don’t know if there’s any, real moment that I’ve had is you know, like one of the best moments but I’m sure there’ll be plenty to come I’m only a sophomore. So still have a lot of sports left in me,” Applegate said.

Copyright 2023 KJCT. All rights reserved.