The benchmark of Division I college hockey players, the intangible that distinguishes them from their Canadian junior peers, is their ability to manage their time.

The theory, one that has been confirmed repeatedly, is that balancing a full load of classwork, practice, gym training, and homework creates champions, both on the ice and in society at large. This applies to female student-athletes of the NCAA as well, though St. Cloud senior Rachel Herzog has taken time management to an extreme.

Until her season ended this past Saturday, Herzog balanced playing a regular shift on defense, a full course load, and a broadcast schedule that would represent a full-time job for most paid professionals.

“I’ve been working with the WCHA to make their weekly recap videos for the league,” Herzog said. “I also have a few shows for Husky Productions (SCSU).” 

Those shows focus on the St. Cloud men’s team, airing on Fox Sports North. She also is a school news anchor and producer for the in-house network ever since she became a mass communications major two years ago.

But it’s the weekly highlights for the WCHA that has sped up her juggling to hyper-speed.

“It’s Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday,” Herzog said. “Todd Bell [WCHA Communications Manager] sends me the weekend recap, breaks down the goals, assists, how the game played out. He sends me those Monday morning. I take that and I write my script. 

“On Tuesday I go into the studio and watch all of the games, and use his [Todd’s] scripts to get video clips of all the goals I want to emphasize. On Wednesday morning I film my intro and outro.”

Here’s Herzog in action as an anchor: 

“I have to break it up with three days. I’m taking 18 credits as a senior and playing hockey. So it’s not something where I can take a couple hours and do all together. 

“I try to get it to Todd and Jennifer [WCHA Women’s Commissioner Jennifer Flowers] at the WCHA around 2 PM, right before my two o’clock class on Wednesday, so that’s usually my deadline. Sometimes it gets crunched pretty close to 2 PM. I’ve found myself scrambling around, something always goes wrong and you have to improvise, something comes up in your schedule that you have to work around.

“It’s been fun, I’ve enjoyed it, but it takes some time and effort.”

Over the course of this season, Herzog found herself in the game videos, placing her in a journalistic quandary.

“There have been a few assists in there, me celebrating with the team; [I’m] actually kind of grateful that I haven’t had to report on myself. I don’t know how I would deliver that. If I did score a goal I think I would pick other goals throughout the game to highlight in there. I wouldn’t really want to say my own name.”

In her final series against nation #3 Minnesota, Herzog set up St. Cloud’s first goal, but it was in a losing cause. Her playing career is now over, but her professional prospects, in broadcasting that is, continues to peak. Commissioner Flowers is high on Herzog.

“We hit the jackpot with Rachel. Having a current WCHA student-athlete help us tell our story is impactful in so many ways,” Flowers said. “Rachel is poised and knowledgeable and we are so appreciative of her talents. Our mission in the WCHA is to provide an opportunity for our young women to excel both on the ice and off. We hope this experience for Rachel will propel her career after hockey and that’s what it is all about.”

Tim Rappleye is the author of Jack Parker's Wiseguys: The National Champion BU Terriers, the Blizzard of '78, and the Road to the Miracle on Ice. He can be reached on Twitter @TeeRaps.