She is so conscientious – it is so against her nature to complain – that the only way her coach would suspect her day has been long is when she says, discreetly, at the start of practice, “I might not be quite up to par today.”

What that means is that four-year dean’s list senior public accounting major and Husson College softball co-captain Chris Longtin of Brewer probably hasn’t had much sleep, if any, in the past 24 hours.

Because she never makes excuses and always gives her best, her teammates may not be aware of what a typical day is for their star catcher. There are barely enough hours for rest.

Each day, Chris Longtin puts in a full day in classes in which she is holding a 3.8 average; spends two hours practicing or working out; spends two hours in the softball team’s mandatory study hall; and then heads for McDonald’s in Brewer where she works a full shift as assistant manager. Responsible for the closing paperwork, Longtin may return home in the wee hours to study for an upcoming test.

Longtin admits she sometimes reaches burnout, but she gets past it because she is used to long hours and hard work. She comes by her dedication naturally.

Chris and her twin Carlene, who is at Springfield College in Massachusetts, are the youngest of Thaddee and Murielle Longtin’s 14 children. Chris started her work career as a 12-year-old Sunriser for this newspaper, and she hasn’t stopped since, even carrying 15 credits and playing softball.

If you think she lets up in the summer, you are mistaken. That is when she holds two fulltime jobs. After McDonald’s, she changes clothes and heads for a full shift at Deering Ice Cream.

When asked if her career path might continue along those management lines, Longtin said probably night. “But I might like to own one someday,” she said.

She is job hunting and finding it odd that interviewers “are looking for people with 4.0s and not people who have 3.8s and are well-rounded and dependable.”

The only break Longtin gets from her heavy schedule is a spring trip to Florida with the Husson softball softball team. The Braves came home with a a 2-2 record. The two losses were to Florida teams with over 20 previous games.

To make that trip, Coach Shannon Whiting’s team raises its own funds. And guess who always gets her money in first? Longtin, of course. Following her May 14th graduation, she is going to treat herself to one final trip to Florida with college friends.

In the midst of her last competitive season, Chris Longtin yearns for a chance to go to the NAIA softball nationals, but Husson is 4-5 heading into a Wednesday doubleheader at Bowdoin College in Brunswick. Whiting is working to get Husson to the NAIA District 5 playoffs behind players like Longtin, sophomore outfielders Michelle Cogan and Berlynda Gaudette, and junior catcher Marianne Lampart.

Husson is lucky to have leading-hitter Longtin in the lineup. Her method of working off stress is jumping on her motorcycle and taking a ride. Last July, she headed down the street and didn’t get far before going off the road. She admits she was petrified. Fortunately, she was wearing a helmet but she tore shoulder tissue and spent three months recovering.

Whiting calls Longtin an outstanding leader on and off the field.

“Whoever gets Chris will want to keep her forever,” Whiting predicted. “I’ve never known her to miss a game, a practice or a workout.” That is quite a record, considering Longtin has had more than a few hour days when she never got to bed.

For her part, Longtin believes the ’94 Husson Braves have developed the strongest bond of any team she’s seen. That is a good thing, because they spend a lot of time together.

Traveling in 14-passenger vans for hours at a time, staying four or five to a room, it helps to be friends, Longtin said. “We stick together, and that friendship helps put things in perspective.”

Although she will come out of college heavily in debt despite working to pay as she went, she would not have missed her Husson years. Longtin is eager to become a certified public accountant and put her degree to work, but she will not think about hanging up her Husson uniform until it is absolutely the end.

Will Longtin’s life change after graduation? A bit, perhaps. She won’t have to study every day. But she will continue to work long and hard.

And softball? Yes, there will be that, too. Chris Longtin has already signed up with the Belfast league for the summer.