Leaving school at 3:40 p.m. is a foreign concept for Lambert athlete Bradee Lewandowski. Due to playing three varsity sports for the school, she has even moved to a modified class schedule to accommodate her busy athletic ventures.
“I’m only at school for my hardest classes,” said the junior. “That gives me the time to go home and work on homework, get prepared for practice or games.”
In the fall, Lewandowski is a starting left blocker and wide receiver for the defending region champion flag football team as well as an avid runner for cross country. In the spring, she contributes to tourney and regular season wins for Lambert Lacrosse. Among the three, though, she feels a special gravitation towards flag football.
“I would say flag football is my favorite, my parents were big football fans so getting to play football in any kind of way was exciting..I ended up being a varsity letterman my freshman year,” she stated.
In the past few years, a lot has shifted with Lambert flag football ranging from changes in coaching staff to player switches; being with the program for three years, Lewandoski has stepped up in leadership through these adjustments.
“I make sure to encourage all my friends and keep the team united,” she proclaimed.
Her infatuation with flag football came about, in part, thanks to her lengthy experience with lacrosse.
“I would go to lacrosse tournaments [and] when we would have nothing to do in between games..I would throw the ball with my dad.”
Lacrosse was the versatile athlete’s original sport, having played it since the fourth grade.
“One of my best friends at the time got me into it,” Lewandoski stated. “We were the main scorers on our team [and] ended up being an important duo to our team’s success.”
Lewandoski has also played lacrosse for teams outside of school including the Georgia Outlaws and various accomplished feeder teams. With numerous championships and runner-up achievements in these spaces, she gained a starting spot on Lambert’s team, and it is now a goal of hers to play club lacrosse at the university level.
Lewandoski began cross country at a similar time to beginning lacrosse. During elementary school, she participated in the popular movement “Girls on the Run,” where she quickly found success.
“I ran it with three of my other friends and we were the fastest people on the team. I really enjoyed sprinting and that became a specialty,” the athlete said.
Throughout elementary and middle school, Bradee dabbled in other sports, such as basketball and karate, which left little time for her running pursuits. She came back to cross country during 8th grade, but she believes it may be time for an exit.
“As the flag football and cross country seasons overlapped, I wasn’t able to go to a lot of cross country practices,” Lewandowski explained.
This was due to the fact that flag football is a team sport, therefore, it demanded more of her practice timeover cross country which can be practiced individually. For this reason, she is currently taking a break from cross country. But she says running isn’t completely out of the cards, she may go back to her roots this spring.
“I’ve thought about the possibility of participating in track rather than lacrosse to stay athletic in the spring season,” she stated. “I might as well consider it for senior year.”
Though in whatever sport the accomplished junior plays, it is clear that she exemplifies what it means to be a student athlete the Longhorn way.
“The Longhorn way is trying to do as best as you can and respecting your peers, your teammates, [and] your coaches,” Lewandowski said.
In her undying dedication as a multi-sport athlete, Bradee is truly defying expectations in each field she plays on.
