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There are faces among the crowd, towering physical presences, immediately recognized on this campus because of their achievements representing Virginia Tech in their respectively skilled areas of athletic prowess.
"Oooh," the onlookers whisper. "There's Coleman Collins! There's Sean Glennon!"
These impressive athletes, who don the maroon and orange of the Hokies, have found themselves in the spotlight, in the aim of ESPN cameras and under the ear of diligent Sports Reporters' microphones.
These Hokies are enjoying the limelight of being an Atlantic Coast Conference Division I college athlete, and reap the rewards of their efforts with fame, respect, and popularity.
Then there is Kevin Koehr.
Koehr is not asked for autographs. He does not have over 1,500 Virginia Tech facebook friends, and has never even been on TV.
Koehr is .00467 percent of the undergraduate student population of Virginia Tech. He is a varsity athlete, but also a cadet.
The freshman from Warrenton, Virginia, is on the Swim team and in the Navy ROTC program via the Corps of Cadets.
Anyone can easily understand the hectic life of an NCAA athlete, especially of the ACC variety, but few know the exact intricacies associated with the Corps, besides the uniforms and steeped tradition of duty. His schedule is a nightmare, even for athlete standards.
"You have to be self-motivated to do what I do," he said.
True enough, for Koehr daily routine puts every other Hokie athlete's to shame. He's up at 5 a.m. every other day of the week and not in bed until sometimes as late as midnight. His swim practices are two hours long every day twice a day. Then he has to hit the weight room to complete a vigorous regimen set up by the strength training coach of the swim team, sometimes coupled with Corps physical training at night. All the while maintaining a good standing with his fellow cadets and keeping up with training schedules, formation and marching duties, shining shoes and keeping his clothes in perfect condition.
On top of all of his athletic and Corps duties, he is taking a full load of classes in pursuit of his major in Business Management.
"I'm good at time management." Koehr said. "I have to be, or there would be no way I could keep up with this."
Koehr is a special kind of dedicated. He's been swimming competitively since he was eight, and his family is knee deep in military tradition. Tech, Koehr pointed out, was an obvious choice.
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