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Eagan Junior Excels On The Field, And Pretty Much Everywhere Else

MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) -- If you want to feel like an underachiever, just spend a little time with Lauren Markowski.

"Each year you improve a little bit, and it's really cool," she said.

Lauren's on three varsity teams at Eagan -- track and field, cross country, and nordic skiing -- and captain of two of them. Right now, during track season, is the only time she's participating in a sport but not leading it. Unless you're talking about the race itself, in which case, she probably is leading it.

"It's all kind of endurance-based," she said. "So training for one helps with training for the other, and it all kind of builds off each other.

And her talents are by no means only athletic. She's also second chair trombone in the school band, and recently traveled to Greece to perform.

"At first I kind of just took it just to take it, but I'm starting to enjoy it now," she said.

And to top it all off, she's at the top of her class with class rank of number 1 out of 521 juniors at Eagan, with a perfect 4.0 in honors and AP classes.

"She is quietly a real star around here, and just a great leader," Eagan track coach Rob Graham said.

So how's a kid pull all that off, to do all the things she does as well as she does them?

"I usually tell them that I don't get sleep," she said. "Which is kind of true."

The fact that she can juggle all her responsibilities is another accomplishment in itself.

"I kind of just have to learn to prioritize what I have to get done at certain times....

That and she can also, actually, juggle.

"She's a pretty good multitasker, but she does it in such an advanced, adult way," Coach Graham said. "She excels at everything she does, she's got a passion for what she's doing and she wants to just push this thing and get as good as she can."

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