Question: "Chris, what are your other interests besides field hockey?"

Answer: "Lacrosse."

Question: "And besides lacrosse?"

Answer: "Field hockey."

Don't talk to Chris Sailer, not if you want to learn the truth about her. The co-captain of the field hockey team isn't shy--it's just that she'd rather talk about other people.

Talk to her coaches, teammates and friends, instead. They'll paint a different picture of the 20-year-old senior who describes herself as "a very typical person."

Actually, Sailer is right--if she means typical in the sense of balanced. Somehow, the two-sport star (she's all-New England in lacrosse) has been able to perform the difficult balancing act of academics and athletics without sacrificing her sanity. And according to her teammates, that's not so typical.

Everybody, except Chris, in fact, agrees about Chris.

Goalie and roommate Betty Ippolito: "Chris is devoted to athletics but she also has other interests in life. She gives them equal devotion, and balances them amazingly."

Relaxed Competition

"Co-captain Elaine Kellogg: "She manages to mix competitiveness with relaxedness. She's a very competitive person but at the same time she's very friendly so she makes you fell at ease."

Coach Edie MacAusland: "Chris is special because she's interested in a lot of different things. Hockey is really important to her, but she gets excited about her courses. Not to say that she's a big intellectual, but anything she does, she does well. That's why it's fun to coach her, because I know there's more to her than hockey."

Some athletes play sports because they have nothing else to do; some because it's all they've ever done. Sailer plays sports for the same reason she does anything--because she enjoys it.

"There have been times when I think this isn't what I should be doing, I should be using my time for something else," she says. "In the end, however, I stick with it, out of habit partly, but I really like the people and the competition."

The enjoyment shows, both on and off the field--in her face while she plays, and in her voice when she talks about her sports. But when you try to talk about her accomplishments, she clams up.