BILLINGS — Would you believe me if I told you Billings Senior’s Payton Tryan, the two-time Class AA state golf champion, didn’t really pick up golf until before her freshman year?
What makes it more impressive is all that she balances outside of sports.
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“We have an FCA (Fellowship of Christian Athletes) at our school. My sister was the one that brought that to Senior, so it’s more just keeping that going,” Tryan said. “We’ve actually had big growth in that and a lot of new people coming, so it’s really cool to see that grow.”
Tryan is a prominent member of Senior’s Fellowship of Christian Athletes, while also taking several honors courses. It’s a wonder that the future Montana Grizzly finds time to golf, let alone at the level she does.
“I think it takes a lot of practice to balance it. I think my freshman year was when it really hit me that I had to map everything out," Tryan said. "When I was getting bad grades in classes because I was missing so much school for golf, that was kind of a wake-up call.
"There’s actually time that needs to be taken to balance these things, so I think that really helped me. I can’t get behind in these classes, especially as you get older. You can’t make up all the work. I’m just not going to allow myself to not do the work and not get good grades because of it.”
Those bad grades didn’t last, as Tryan carries a 4.3 GPA. She’ll have a few weeks to focus on those studies before she’s commanding the Bronc offense as the point guard on the basketball floor.
“I think it’s nice that I don’t have to go to a full day of school, so I have an extra hour in the day, which is better than the previous years I’ve had,” Tryan said.
She's dedicated herself both athletically and academically, and it has certainly paid off.
