CINCINNATI - She may be the Tri-State's busiest athlete, and Purcell Marian's Raven Cox would have it no other way.
A senior, Cox is in her third year as kicker for the varsity football team. And she is the only female on the boys soccer team.
Raven Cox
"I think it's impressive to be a two-sport athlete in one season," her soccer coach, Damian Marques, told 9 On Your Side.
Not to mention two boys varsity sports.
Purcell Marian doesn't have a girls varsity soccer team. There weren't enough players to field a team this season.
Marques says Cox has no trouble navigating through opposing male players, some of whom are much taller and heavier.
Cox spends her first hour after school practicing with the soccer team. Her mother waits for her to finish and then drives her 15 minutes to football practice.
Raven runs to the football field after leaving soccer practice
The football coach, Jon Tobin, says he only had one mandate for Cox when she approached him about kicking for his team.
"I said, 'If you can put it through the uprights, we want you.' That was our conversation," Tobin said.
Cox said the previous coach wasn't as welcoming.
"I tried freshman year and they didn't believe me, so that's why I didn't play freshman year," Cox said. "Sophomore year they started to believe me."
Raven kicks in football practice.
Once her two-a-day practices are over, Cox goes home for dinner and homework. Her busy after-school schedule apparently has no adverse affect on her grades. Raven is an "A" and "B" student.
"Our whole motto is 'Win today.' which means you win in the classroom and you win on the football field," Tobin says. "Raven is a girl who wins in the school. She does everything right. And she's able to handle both responsibilities - soccer and football."
