BUTLER TWP — Soccer or track?

It's a happy conundrum for Butler sophomore Liz Simms.

“Well, I really love soccer,” Simms said. “I've been playing soccer since the fourth grade. I started track in the seventh grade to stay in shape, but the older I got, the better I got at it. And I'm really excited to see how much better I can get.”

Soccer or track?

Luckily for Simms, that decision can be put off for at least a little while longer.

For now, Simms is satisfied with dominating at both for the Golden Tornado.

This spring, Simms has been particularly potent on the track for Butler, running legs on the 3,200- and 1,600-meter relay teams and competing in the 800.

She will be doing all three beginning Friday at the PIAA Track and Field Championships at Shippensburg University.

“I'm going to be pretty busy,” Simms said, laughing. “And exhausted.”

Just how she likes it.

Simms doesn't shy away from many challenges.

In fact, she relishes them.

“She is very driven, both athletically and academically,” said Butler girls track and field coach John Williams. “She doesn't duck anything. If she's competing at something, she goes at it hard.”

Simms was disappointed with her showing at the state meet last season.

She chalked that up as a valuable learning experience.

“Everyone is super fast,” Simms said. “I got boxed in and didn't run my best race.”

Simms is determined to not let that happen again.

She enters the state meet as a 12th seed in the Class AAA 800, but her seed time is slower than her best mark of the season in the event: 2 minutes, 14.96 seconds.

That time would put her as the sixth seed heading into the meet.

Simms, though, is looking most forward to the 1,600 relay.

“It's speed, but also endurance,” Simms said. “And it's the last event, so you leave it all out there because there's nothing else left to do.”

Simms and teammates Maddie Tonini, Shana Hoy and Alexis Leech ran a school record time of 3:53.05 at the WPIAL championships last week and are the third seed.

But Simms doesn't rule out the chance for the team to run a sub-3:50 in Shippensburg, which would put them right in the hunt for gold.

“I just love the team aspect of the relay,” Simms said. “Just going out and running for your team.”

As good as Simms has been on the soccer pitch and on the track, she's been better in the classroom, carrying a 4.3 GPA.

So, she has options when it comes to what she wants to do and where she ultimately will do it after high school.

Soccer or track?

Plenty of options.

“I'm only a sophomore, so I really don't know where I want to go or what I want to do yet,” Simms said. “I'm leaning toward premed — whenever I took my first biology class, I enjoyed seeing what happens inside the human body, and I like kids, so maybe I'll be a pediatrician.

“And I'm a huge Notre Dame fan,” she added.

Simms is at a point where she can write her own ticket.

“My coach had told me doors are pretty wide open,” Simms said. “I have a lot of opportunities. It's amazing.”