Like most college-bound athletes this summer, Lauren DiGregorio has been sticking to a workout program prescribed by her school of choice.
"And, to be honest, I don't think it's enough," she said of the packet, which includes such fun workouts as "120s" (running the length of a football field and back in under a minute) and "cone monsters" (the dry-land equivalent of hockey ladders). "I want to beat the expectations, because I know it will be a bit of a jump when I get there."
With this attitude, DiGregorio knows when she arrives on the Colorado College campus next month that she will be fully prepared to kick off her women's soccer career for the Tigers.
DiGregorio has always been one to be ready for a challenge -- although they have not all come under the best circumstances.
Until this past season, when she scored 28 goals and eight assists for Burnsville's girls' soccer team, DiGregorio put up with a rash of injuries that almost derailed her athletic opportunities.
The worst of it came during her junior season, when a sprained knee ligament limited her to nine games.
"The injuries all just seemed to snowball," said DiGregorio, who also suffered ankle, groin, hamstring and quad injuries on top of a bout of mono.
Along with the grueling road back to playing form, DiGregorio endured an even tougher setback: college coaches who once promised to keep tabs on her for scholarship offers wouldn't even return e-mails.