North Carolina State University Athletics
TIM PEELER: Succeeding at Her First Love
5/3/2006 12:00:00 AM | Women's Tennis
May 3, 2006
BY TIM PEELER
RALEIGH - Shortly after Neils Barringer turned 14, she was preparing to play in a junior tennis tournament in Arizona. As North Carolina's top-ranked player and one of the top 100 players in her age group in the country, the Durham native traveled the country playing the game she took up at age 4.
Then one day she collapsed in her hotel room. It was first of many fainting episodes that almost prevented Barringer from ever pursuing her dream of playing college tennis.
"The doctors told me that tennis was out of the question and I should probably not even think about anything cardiovascular for the rest of my life," Barringer said. "For the next couple of months I couldn't do anything as strenuous as take a shower or go up the steps in my house.
"It was pretty rough."
But not as rough, in Barringer's mind, of a life without competing in some kind of athletic activity.
Eventually, doctors diagnosed Barringer's frequent fainting spells, and the light-headedness and nausea that she frequently suffered, as neurally mediated syncope, a chronic low-blood pressure problem that could be treated with various drugs. But they maintained their instructions of limiting Barringer's cardiovascular activities.
So she took up golf, the game her father, her brother and her grandfathers all played regularly.
"I couldn't just sit on the couch and watch TV," she said. "I had to do something, and golf is great because it is so mentally challenging."
Despite her health issues, she became an excellent junior golfer, recording a 4.5 handicap index. Five months after taking up the sport, she finished fifth in the prestigious North and South Junior Championship in Pinehurst. At 16, she won the Brier Creek Country Club women's club championship, beating the two-time defending champion.
She played on the boys golf team at Durham's Jordan High School for a couple of years, and college recruiters from throughout the region began talking with her about scholarships.
However, without telling her parents or her doctors, Barringer started working out on a treadmill at school. She increased her duration and speed. And, not long after her junior year of high school, she got approval to return to her first love, tennis.
"My cardiologist told me if all my readings were OK, I could try tennis and see how it went," Barringer said. "I tried it, I had no symptoms and everything was fine.
"I took advantage of that and haven't looked back since."
Barringer made a quick return to the junior tennis circuit, playing in every tournament she could get to, and quickly got the attention of other recruiters, including NC State women's tennis coach Hans Olsen. She also helped the Jordan High girls team win the 2004 Pac-6 conference championship.
"Every time I was at a tournament, Neils Barringer was in it," Olsen said. "As soon as they gave her the green light, she just went after it."
Obviously, after taking three developmentally important years off from the sport, Barringer was a little rusty. But the devastating serve and forehand that made her a strong junior player at 14 returned quickly. She got scholarship offers from Maryland, Furman, UNC-Charlotte and NC State.
The decision was relatively easy for the lifelong Wolfpack fan, who grew up in a family where her grandparents rooted for Duke, her mom went to North Carolina and her dad went to Wake Forest.
Now, as one of a quartet of freshmen on the NC State women's tennis team, Barringer is one of the reasons the Wolfpack (16-9) is on the verge of getting only the second NCAA Tournament bid in school history. Bids for the men's and women's championships will be announced Wednesday night.
Barringer has compiled a 13-6 overall record, playing primarily in the No. 6 position. But she is also 4-0 playing in the No. 3, 4 and 5 slots. Her success has astonished Olsen, who knew that Barringer would eventually be a good player. He just didn't expect it this soon.
"To say that we knew she was going to improve and excel at the rate that she is, that would not be a true statement," Olsen said. "She has exceeded the schedule that I thought. She is probably already at the point where I thought she would be in two years."
Of course, Olsen and the team trainers must carefully monitor Barringer's health. She must stay hydrated, so she drinks "a disgusting amount of Gatorade." She must always monitor her blood pressure. She can't get over-heated.
But she hasn't had a fainting episode for more than a year, and doctors believe that, for the most part, she has out grown her medical condition. She no longer takes two of her three daily medications.
"It's pretty exciting to be able to play again, to keep improving," Barringer said. "There's a lot to look forward to."
You may contact Tim Peeler at tim_peeler@ncsu.edu.
