No limits to Steimle's impressive achievements

If time management was a course within the Elgin Academy curriculum, Lauren Steimle surely would have earned an A grade.

It's no secret that Elgin Academy is a demanding academic school, and also one that requires athletic participation as part of the "class" load.

And for the last four years, Steimle excelled at just about everything she did at the private Elgin school.

In addition to being a stellar student who is deeply involved in community service, Steimle also was part of some of the best girls sports teams Elgin Academy has ever produced. She helped the basketball team reach a supersectional for the first time in program history and the Hilltoppers' soccer program reached new heights with Steimle as its leader.

Couple her athletic achievements with her academic record and her resume of community service and it was an easy choice to select Steimle as the Daily Herald's 2009-10 Fox Valley female athlete of the year.

She is the first Elgin Academy athlete, boy or girl, to earn the award.

"Lauren is an accomplished two-sport athlete who leads through her attitude and skill, and her extraordinary success is even more remarkable because she is one of those students and people whom you come across rarely," said Seth Hanford, Assistant Head of School and Upper School Director for the Academy, in making the nomination.

"Her varied and deep commitments also make her excellent athletic accomplishments even more impressive. She is the co-editor of our yearbook, a class representative on our student council and an invaluable member of our very successful Worldwide Youth in Science and Engineering team.

Athletically, Steimle was a captain of the Hilltoppers' Class 1A Elite Eight basketball team this past season as well as all-conference in the Independent School League. She was also captain of the soccer team, which reached the sectional finals three straight years, all-conference, and a first-team all-sectional pick by the IHSSCA.

Academically, to add to an already impressive high school career, this school year she was an AP Scholar Award winner, an Illinois State Scholar, earned an Excellence in Mathematics award, an Excellence in Science award, and the Presidential Award for Outstanding Academic Excellence.

Her volunteer service runs deep and includes GOALS (Give, Offer, Advocate, Love, Serve), soccer activities at Riverview Christian Center, the Northern Illinois Food Bank, Little Angels Home for disabled children, Elgin PADS, Big Brother/Big Sister, Amnesty International, Delnor Hospital Candy Striper, CROP Walk for Hunger, and a spring break service trip to an orphanage in the Dominican Republic, a trip she took all four years of high school.

"I find staying busy helps, especially with academics," said Steimle, a St. Charles resident and the daughter of Jon and Cindy Steimle. "I come home and I only have a certain amount of time for homework. Sometimes it's tough and sometimes you do homework on the bus. But I don't have time to procrastinate."

It's clear Steimle paid attention to academics while also playing basketball and soccer and doing virtually everything else under the sun.

"In our solely college-preparatory curriculum, she has earned no grade less than A- and she has a cumulative, unweighted GPA of 4.04," Hanford wrote. "While we don't rank our students if our year were to end now she would be her class' Salutatorian. She has challenged herself in every discipline, earning passing scores on three advanced placement exams, Her stellar work is a testament to her ability, work ethic, and independent nature."

On the athletic field, Steimle was clearly a leader for the Hilltoppers.

"Lauren is a record-setting athlete who has led our basketball and soccer teams to new heights," Hanford said. "Both of these sports have enjoyed a renaissance at Elgin Academy in recent years, largely due to her skill and leadership."

Steimle was just glad to see the fruits of her labor come to fruition.

"In my class we had a lot of talented female athletes," she said. "It was nice to see as seniors that the hard work really paid off."

In her free time, Steimle likes to spend time with her friends and family, especially 6-year old brother Jacob.

"I love spending time with him and I'm trying to get him involved in sports," she said. "He's been playing soccer but he loves baseball."

Steimle will take the next chapter of her life to Washington University in St. Louis, where she will study biomedical engineering and play soccer. But before she departs on that journey, she was quick to thank a couple of her mentors.

"My parents have been very supportive no matter what I do," she said. "When I was younger they put me into a lot of things to see what I'd like. I think I was the only girl who was in ballet and playing hockey.

"I also had a couple great soccer coaches who have helped me a lot in Matt Hamnett, who taught me to play with a lot of heart, and Bernie Kehoe, who taught me skills. And everyone at Elgin Academy has always been very supportive and understanding about academics and sports."

But with a person and athlete the quality of Lauren Steimle, that job was made much easier.