Sports have always been a big part of Baxter Jennings’ life. Across four years at Marblehead High, he’s done a little bit of everything.
Jennings, a varsity athlete since his freshman year, said he wanted to leave high school with zero regrets.
“High school was a whole other level of play and a whole new atmosphere,” Jennings said. “How it started and how it ended definitely shaped how I am now.”
Jennings had to make a big decision after his junior year: carry on with soccer as captain, or make the switch to the football field.
“I played soccer from freshman year to junior year and I was about to be named captain, but I decided to play football my senior year,” Jennings said. “It turned out on the right side of the table, thankfully.”
“The captain’s role was a big thing to put aside, but I always wanted to play football,” Jennings said. “In five years, I don’t want to live with the regret that I never gave it a shot. It took a bit of thinking to tell Coach (Elmer) Magana, but I have such huge respect for him and it was one of the best decisions I have made. It just told me if you want to do something, go do it.”
Jennings, who is also a state championship skier, talked about how great it was to capture his third championship of his career last winter.
“This year, I got my third state championship and it was a full circle moment, looking back at my freshman year and just thinking about how I was able to do it then and still be able to do it now,” Jennings said. “To be at the stage where you only have one try to win, it felt good to wrap it all and leave it all on the hill.”
Of his three titles, the first takes the cake.
“My most fond memory was winning my first state championship my freshman year,” Jennings said. “That was such a surreal experience. I came into the season pretty intimidated. I was coming off of a pretty high level of skiing, but transitioning from club to town is pretty big. Just hearing my name called when I got to the podium was a great feeling.”
Jennings also found success on the lacrosse field, helping lead Marblehead to the Final Four this spring. He was one of the best face-off men in the area, and credited his mindset over everything – even comparing it to being atop a ski mountain.
“I love the pressure. It’s all about execution” Jennings said. “I think in skiing, it’s just a mental battle with yourself. In lacrosse, when you’re at the face-off X, it’s just you and the ball with the person in front of you. Just knowing you only have one chance to do it right and win – I love that feeling.”
Playing four sports isn’t easy, but each helped him in different ways.
“They’re all pretty different, but they all had some factors,” Jennings said. “Soccer was big regarding my endurance, and for lacrosse, it was good all around. Football definitely hardened me a little bit. I think by playing all four shows that I was able to have a lot of athletic ability in terms of everything I was doing. They all went hand-in-hand in how my athletic ability was shown on the field.”
“I loved every single one of them – they all taught me a lot,” Jennings said. “I think creating a balance was the hardest part, but I just loved what I was doing, so it didn’t really matter.”
After four years of state championships and individual success, Jennings can look back with pride.
“[I have] no regrets looking back at my career,” Jennings said. “I achieved the goals I wanted to achieve. I set really high standards for myself and if I didn’t achieve them, I would beat myself up for it. That was a big motivation for me – to do everything that I accomplished.”