When Student Athletes are Also Engineers

As artificial intelligence, autonomous cars, intelligent robots, and space exploration dominate social media, science and engineering are now in style. And the students with the unique capability to find solutions that save the earth, make life easier, and help explain the inexplicable, are cool, especially if they are also elite athletes competing at the collegiate level. 

Yet, taking on rigorous studies while training and competing must be difficult even for the most intelligent athletes. “I decided to take on both engineering studies and intercollegiate sports because of my love for both,” explained Haley Leimbach a first baseman playing softball for Tufts University. 

Double passion

Like some of her peers, the Wantagh, N.Y. native found it difficult to pick the competition of sports over the battle to solve complex problems. Yet, she, and others like her, decided to do both. “Being an athlete is a large part of my identity,” Leimbach said. Always fascinated by how things work, studying mechanical engineering was just a natural decision as much as keeping up with her career in softball and one she could not leave behind.

It is the passion of both athletics and science that allows many mechanical engineering students to pursue a high level of play and competition, on and off the field, court, or track. 

Cameron Delcristo, defensive midfielder for Tufts University, explained that engineering gives him a greater insight into taking the time to make something work. “So, when it comes to lacrosse, if I'm practicing something new and it isn't going great, I don't give up...I keep working on that skill because I know that eventually it will be at the level that I want it to be.”

And it is all the better if you can learn more about your sport through your mechanical engineering studies. Delcristo describes testing stress-strain of lacrosse shafts and examining the sport’s chest protector to understand the dissipation of a blunt force strike. 

The same is true of Leimbach, who “definitely” has experienced the intersection of softball and mechanical engineering.  “While the two may not seem related, much of softball has to do with physics, something we know a lot about in engineering.  My coach always jokes with me, asking whenever she has a ‘physics-softball’ question,” she explained.

“Knowing more about physics, mechanics, and material science has provided me with a deeper understanding of softball mechanics and the equipment that we use.  Additionally, playing softball has allowed me to visualize the real-world application of many of the engineering principles I am taught in my classes,” explained the 2024 NESCAC All-Academic winner.

Working hard

Delcristo explained that being both an athlete and a mechanical engineering student forces you to embrace a strong work ethic as well as hone your time management skills. His flex is being very good about working on deadlines early, so he is never scrambling to finish. This past season while he started for the Jumbos and scored 13 goals with two assists, he also completed his senior capstone design project.

Athletic engineers quickly learn how to communicate ideas, share the load and the successes, and take on organizational tasks under pressure. Self-motivation is part of that mix. University of California, Berkeley (UCB) pole vaulter Will Siemens was awarded the Brutus Hamilton award for having the team’s highest GPA. He explained that because of his rigorous classes and difficult schedule he harnessed his drive to compete to excel at both. 

“I am always wanting to be better and to do whatever work I am working on to the best of my ability and to really understand whatever I am doing,” the Davis, Calif. native explained. 

“Athletics takes away a chunk of your day that most people could usually spend studying,” Siemens explained. To compensate he made sure he adopted strategies that allowed him to make the most of the time he had to get his work done. Making himself accountable was one strategy—attending class and making the effort to study whenever possible if only for a few minutes, for example. Some individuals may plan to make up the work “some other time” but being a student athlete, he explained, “I don't have that much of that ‘some other time.’”

Being an athlete has helped Ashley Lederman, a student studying mechanical engineering at Massachusetts Institute of Technology, to learn how to manage her time “meticulously.” Juggling practice, games, and travel led her to use what time and energy she does have to be productive and disciplined especially during field hockey season. She explained this includes knowing when to seek out support from her teammates. “I know I have a support system to lean on,” the Villanova, Pa., native explained. 

Surrounded by individuals who also pursue difficult studies can be beneficial as you help each other excel and push each other to keep on track with studies and sports. A lot of my teammates are also in other engineering fields, explained Ella Wilson who plays basketball for Rochester Institute of Technology (RIT). “They understand the challenges and the benefits,” she said.
 
“Being surrounded by driven people made me want to be more successful in the classroom. They motivated me to do well in school,” explained Jessica “Jessie” Gomez, a soccer player at RIT. The Silver Springs, Md., native who is pursuing a master's of engineering in mechanical engineering with a subfocus in automotive systems admitted that being a mechanical engineer was a “pretty common major” on the team with engineering majors that include biomedical and chemical engineers.

“When I talk to other college soccer players though, they are pretty impressed with the students on the [RIT Soccer],” she said. This past semester the team had a combined GPA of 3.72.

The future

Dylan Ryan Jemtegaard talked about the difficulty of leaving the support of his family and the familiarity of small-town life to pursue collegiate football and a mechanical engineering career at UCB. “Leaving behind the support system of my family and the Pacific Northwest was no small task,” the offensive lineman admitted. His leap “into a massive unknown world of intense demands, unpredictable changes, and moments of profound loss,” all shaped him and got him on his way to who he is now. 

“The journey hasn’t been easy,” he explained. Jemtegaard lost his dad in the spring of 2023 which turned out to be a life-altering event that tested his resolve in ways he never expected. “My father was not only a pillar of guidance and strength but also an inspiration to those who got to interact with him regularly. Navigating the grief of such inexplicable loss while balancing the physical-mental toll of football and a rigorous mechanical engineering program was and has been overwhelming at times,” he said. 

But the experience did give him resilience and, more importantly, purpose. “I believe you can learn a lot about yourself in the way you choose to respond to adversity and how long you allow yourself to lie on the floor when knocked down,” the Golden Bear said. “It is football where he learned how to handle setbacks with grace and celebrate victories without losing sight of the bigger picture. These lessons have carried over to my studies, where the challenges of undergraduate engineering can feel like marathons of problem sets, late nights, early mornings, and high-stakes exams. Growth comes from struggle.”

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He explained that the experiences of college sharpened his focus, strengthened his resolve, and given him a deep sense of gratitude for the opportunities afforded him. “They’ve also helped me clarify what success means to me: not just personal achievement but contributing meaningfully to those around me and honoring the values instilled in me by my family and community,” the junior said.

And he will carry these lessons into his career. “I know that the road ahead will have its own challenges, but I feel ready to face them, equipped with the strength and perspective that my college experience has shown me,” Jemtegaard said.

To read more student athlete stories, members can read “Engineering Athletes Redefine Routine” in the March 2025 Mechanical Engineering magazine.

Cathy Cecere is membership content program manager.