As a psychology major also pursuing a minor in biology, junior forward Adrian Chambers can give the scientific explanation behind how athletes train their bodies to fight off exhaustion.

“We actually just talked about this, using your frontal lobe to overpower the hindbrain when fatigue sets in and when your body tells you, ‘You can’t do anymore,’” Chambers said. “You can really train your frontal lobe to have your body continue to work despite the physiological things you’re experiencing.”

It’s a mouthful but, basically, she said the brain can be tricked into thinking its body has more energy than it actually does.

Because in a league as tough as the Atlantic Coast Conference, sometimes the most important mind games are played not with opponents, but inside one’s own head.

Chambers, senior back Anna Crumb and sophomore back Erin Dickey know this better than anyone on No. 4 Syracuse (12-2, 2-2 ACC). All three are biology students that have brought a scientific flair to the Orange this season. Although they hold different roles, Crumb being the only established starter, they could be considered the brains of the team.

It’s this final role that is often the most difficult to maintain.

“It’s really stressful to balance such a hard field that requires so much attention of yours,” Dickey said. “And then, to go and play hockey too, that requires so much attention.

“It’s like living a double life almost, being a student and an athlete.”

So why decide to fire up the microscopes and head to the dissection table?

For Chambers, it all started during childhood. She said she has always been fascinated by human behavior and what motivates people to react in certain ways. That drew her to the psychology field, and since she hopes to kick-start a career in research, a biology minor was the perfect addition.

She said the workload can be frustrating at times, but it’s doable.

“It’s just the nature of the field. It requires a lot of labs, lab work or clinical work, so it can be challenging to balance,” Chambers said.

Meanwhile, Dickey plans on attending medical school once her field hockey days conclude. She’s also thinking about a research career, but she didn’t rule out the possibility of working as a doctor at a hospital.

And Crumb was unavailable to be interviewed; she was in class, of course.

Not surprisingly, Chambers, Crumb and Dickey can easily relate to one another because of their shared academic plight. For Dickey, this mutual understanding proves especially helpful in the classroom.

“It’s really cool. They give me so much insight on like, okay, I had this professor. I had her last semester,” Dickey said of her teammates. “If you do this, or if you get this. It’s a nice connection to know and pass on.”

Their shared success, along with the entire team’s academic performance, hasn’t gone unnoticed.

Head coach Ange Bradley said she admires her players for pursuing such demanding fields of study while also memorizing game plans and attack formations.

“I wish that their classmates and professors could come out and see what the day and life of a student-athlete is really like,” Bradley said. “To be able to maintain a 3.3 team GPA in majors of engineering, biology, Newhouse… it’s really, really, really impressive.”

As for the science-minded trio, there’s no need to resort to brain games to juggle everything. Because they enjoy what they do, the energy supplies itself.

“It becomes challenging, but it’s what I’m most passionate about,” Chambers said. “I think all the girls come across challenges in their own ways. It’s just a matter of learning to manage your time.”

Published on October 21, 2013 at 10:17 pm

Contact Tyler: tfpiccot@syr.edu