Athletes have to put in many hours of hard work to be successful, most of them also depend on a support system around them that helps them through the tough times and is there for them. Frankie Martens is a student-athlete at Hooker Public Schools. She says that she is thankful for the people in her life that have helped her along the way. 

“My mom is my role model,” Martens said. “She has always been my biggest supporter. She has given me every opportunity to follow my dreams. The teacher who has had the biggest impact on my life is Mrs. Haught. I am her teacher’s aide and she has given me guidance so one day I can be a great teacher. She lets me work with the kindergartners while giving me advice.”

Frankie plays softball and runs track and cross country for the Bulldogs. She is also the President of the student council. 

Becoming the athlete that she is today has not been easy but she is looking forward to it paying off in the future. 

“It has taken hours of working on pitching with my dad,” Martens said. “Even when I didn’t want to, he has always pushed me to be better and to go on my own when he wasn’t able to. Also,  meeting with Jacey Dauphin, my pitching coach. She has also invested countless hours into my career. She has also been a great role model for me. My motivation this season was getting the opportunity to play in college. It’s been a dream since I started and being able to put myself in a position to earn a scholarship is what kept me going.”

Throughout her career, Martens has made a lot of memories with her teammates. But she said that reaching a personal milestone was her favorite.

“The highlight of my softball career was hitting 600 career strikeouts when we were competing in the Shattuck Tournament,” she said. “No pitcher in our school history had ever had that many strikeouts in four years and to achieve such an accomplishment really meant a lot.”