BLOOMFIELD, N.Y. (WHEC) – Being a three-sport athlete isn’t easy, especially when you’re weeks away from locking up the valedictorian at your high school.

“A lot of late nights. A lot of Red Bull,” said Bloomfield high school senior Sofie Kachmaryk.

After graduation, Kachmaryk will attend Nova Southeastern in Davie, FL to study Marine Biology.

“My parents have always loved sharks…it just stuck and I’ve just loved sharks ever since and they’re just magnificent to me,” said Kachmaryk.

Kachmaryk has got it all planned out – partly because an injury forced her to start looking ahead at her future.

“I went to go intercept the ball and I came right down wrong on it. I tore my meniscus. I have a couple loose bodies in there. I’ve actually had two previous knee surgeries on the other knee, so I’m used to it,” said Kachmaryk.

That doesn’t stop her from going to practice, even if she can’t do all the drills or scrimmage. 

“If I wasn’t here, what else. This is my life. I love being here. I love being in this gym. I love just helping everybody and getting to watch and learn,” said Kachmaryk. “Going through all these injuries has kind of made me realize that coaching is something that I am really interested in. I get to learn each step of the process and see the game from a whole different perspective, which I’m really lucky.”

Talk about persistence and perseverance! Congrats again to Sofie Kachmaryk on being named our latest News10 NBC Scholar Athlete of the Week.