Kane County Chronicle Athlete of the Week, Burlington Central’s Kendall Glonek, junior, softball

Name: Kendall Glonek

Sport: Softball

What she did: Glonek went 7 for 17 (.412 batting average) with a home run and eight RBIs while scoring five times to help the Rockets go 4-1 on the week.

Glonek was voted the Kane County Chronicle Athlete of the Week in an online vote.

Here is her Q&A with sports reporter Joel Boenitz.

How did you feel you performed at the plate last week?

Glonek: Last week, I felt pretty confident. I had a lot of support from my team, and coach Bill (Morrow) helped me a lot with mental stuff and the little things to critique and change to improve my hitting. And it all just ended up playing out and coming together with the team and just individually.

You hit your first home run of the season in the 14-12 win against Geneva. What was the feeling finding that much success in the game?

Glonek: Going up to the plate was super stressful in the beginning, having all the pressure on you. But for me, the pressure actually pushes me to be better and focus more on being a team player than having to do stuff for myself. And hitting that home run was awesome. It was a crazy feeling.

What’s the feeling of seeing this much success early into your junior year?

Glonek: It feels really good. I put in a lot of work over the past couple months, and honestly years. I’ve gone through a couple surgeries, and it is really showing the amount of work I’ve put in. And it’s super exciting for me and my coaches to see it all finally coming together.

Surgeries? How many surgeries have you had?

Glonek: I’ve had four, two on my elbow and two on my shoulder. I had my first surgery when I was 14. But since that day, I have never missed a day of practice, no matter if I was in a sling or just doing simple ground ball work. And it’s definitely helped increase my knowledge of the game.

Your sister also joined the team this season. How does it feel sharing the field with her?

Glonek: It’s an amazing feeling being able to be on the field with her and to see her progress while we’re all progressing. We don’t get to do that in travel ball, so I know it makes my mom happy, but it’s a really nice feeling being able to see her succeed the way that I would hope she does.

Do you have any superstitions?

Glonek: I like to listen to motivational podcasts on the bus ride over and then pray.

Do you have a favorite pregame meal or drink?

Glonek: I am a big fan of water. For some reason I hate drinking Gatorade or anything else. I drink a lot of water before games, and I could probably eat anything before a game.