Leopard sophomore Kitrell Phillips is an athlete to the core. A participant in football in the fall, wrestling and powerlifting in the winter, and track in the spring, Phillips rarely has  days off.

The Red Ledger: What four sports do you do?

Kitrell Phillips: “Football, wrestling, track and powerlifting.”

The Red Ledger: Out of all the sports you compete in, which one do you view as your primary?

Phillips: “Everything I do, I do to make myself a better football player.”

The Red Ledger: How do you maintain an equal balance of strength and speed throughout the year?

Phillips: “I try to keep it equal between sprinting in track and getting stronger in powerlifting. You don’t want to be too slow and really strong or fast and weak.”

The Red Ledger: How does powerlifting make an impact on these sports?

Phillips: “Being able to lift heavy weights helps explosiveness. The quicker I can start running, higher I jump, and harder I hit all comes from lifting weights.”

The Red Ledger: What is the competition like in your weight class for wrestling?

Phillips: “Since I’m only 114 pounds at five-four sometimes the guys I go up against aren’t very good, but usually it’s guys just like me who just aren’t very big but do all the same weight lifting.”

The Red Ledger: Do the coaches encourage you to gain weight?

Phillips: “Absolutely. My coaches want me to gain weight, but not get fat. Lifting and eating protein helps with that.”

The Red Ledger: How do all these sports make a difference during football season?

Phillips: “Each one helps my different skills. I feel like I last longer and have more explosiveness on the field because of it.”

The Red Ledger: Do the coaches encourage you to do all of these?

Phillips: “They want me to compete in as much as I can to help me with football, and understand that us athletes need to compete all year long.”

The Red Ledger: What is your motivation to do all these sports each year?

Phillips: “Everything I do is to better myself as an athlete and football player.. All the sports I do keep me in shape and make me a better player.”