Julianne Dellorso: Competitive By Nature

 

By Dave Guberman 

               Julianne was dressed nicely, as if she had come from a business meeting. We met in the courtyard where the sun was brightly shining. Growing up, Julianne’s two brothers beat sports into her way of life. This is why she has always thrived on and enjoyed athletic competition.

From figure skating, to softball, to cheerleading, she has always been a competitive person. Even when she was in middle school, her cheerleading team placed second in the nation out of 50,000 teams. When her team started to slide, she quit the team because she couldn’t take losing. She relished the opportunity to compete.

             Julianne grew up with a passion and excitement over the game of baseball In particular. Her all-time favorite Boston sports moment was when the Red Sox ended the 81-year old curse and won the 2004 World Series.

            Julianne couldn’t stay away from cheerleading too long, as she got back into it at Wake Forest University, where she was a cheerleader for four years. Her favorite part about it was being right there, on the sideline, for every game. Being able to get to know the players and be a part of the environment, it was a dream.

            Perhaps it was at Wake Forest where she decided that the sideline was the place for her, as she has high aspirations to become a sideline reporter one day for a major news network.

Q&A with Julianne

Dave: How did you become so interested and involved in sports at a young age?

Julianne: I grew up with two older brothers, so… they were always really athletic. And I think that by seeing them, actually, they kind of used me as their own little sports toy, ball, they used to throw me off rocks to test it, make sure it was safe. So I think that by growing up with two older brothers, that’s how I got into sports.

Dave: How did you get into figure skating as a kid?

Julianne: Figure skating, I think was actually something that my mom approached me with, and, she just signed me up. And I got started at the rink.

Dave: What was your favorite part about figure skating?

Julianne: Figure skating was really difficult, so it was, it felt really good when you nailed a certain move, and as you got better….

Dave: What was your favorite sport as you were growing up?

Julianne: Baseball. I play softball, but baseball has always been my favorite sport to watch, to take part in, and I could talk about baseball all day so.

Dave: What were you most competitive about back in middle school?

Julianne: That’s a good question. Um, in middle school, end of elementary school, I would say, cheerleading. My competition team got second in the nation out of 50,000 teams. We’re from a small town, so that was a pretty big accomplishment. And then I just got really competitive. And when we stopped winning, I actually stopped because I was so used to performing at a certain level, that it was difficult to come back down from that.

Dave: After not being a cheerleader in high school, what made you want to go back and be a cheerleader at Wake Forest?

Julianne: Actually, there was a male cheerleader there who was from my high school. And he had known that I was a cheerleader when I was, you know, a little bit younger, and he asked me if I could still do gymnastics. And I said yes. And he took me out and taught me how to partner stunt because Wake is a co-ed team and I had never done that before. And by virtue of doing that, he recruited me to the team. And obviously I tried out and made it. And I did it for all four years because I loved it.

Dave: What was your favorite part about cheerleading there, at a college school?

Julianne: The athletics. Just being right on the sideline for every single game, and being on the field. For getting to know the team through athletics, and just being at every, single game.

Dave: If you had to pick one, what would you say was your most prideful Boston Sports moment in your lifetime?

Julianne: Oh wow. I would say winning the 2004 World Series breaking of the 81 year-old-curse. And obviously I’m a big baseball fan, so that was a big moment for me.

Dave: If you could pick one baseball player in the whole MLB that you had to marry, who would it be?

Julianne: Current player, or retired?

Dave: Current player.

Julianne: Ooh that’s a tough one. Retired I would say Trot Nixon. Um... maybe Bryce Harper.

Dave: What is your ultimate goal after you leave Newhouse with your degree?

  

Julianne: My ultimate goal is to become a sideline reporter. Ideally I would like to start as a weekend sports anchor/reporter in a small station, and then work my way up to a major network hopefully.