Crosby-Ironton basketball standout Tori Oehrlein excels in sports and academics. It's a balance of mental toughness, discipline and family

At 5 a.m., while many Minnesotans are still asleep, 17-year-old Tori Oehrlein starts her routine.

The Crosby-Ironton girls basketball phenom, regarded as one of the nation's best, is popping out of bed, ready to start a well-orchestrated and disciplined 17-hour weekday.

It's not a one-day occurrence. It's every day.

At their hobby farm, the family's three dogs and two cats come first. Oehrlein feeds them before sitting down for her own breakfast, a meal specifically designed to sustain energy and minimize muscle damage.

"I start my morning with a quick, nutritious breakfast. It's usually an English muffin topped with cheese, sausage or bacon, with an iced coffee to get my body awake for the intense training sessions to come," Oehrlein said. "Breakfast is not only about nutrition. It's a moment for me to mentally prepare for the day, setting goals and affirming my dedication to my craft."

After driving through the quiet streets of the neighborhood, Oehrlein laces up her sneakers at the high school, YMCA gym or CrossFit Grow for her first workout of the day. She warms up her legs with dribbling drills, followed by shooting.

All the while, she's listening to a curated music playlist, from Taylor Swift to Kendrick Lamar.

"The gym is my second home where I hone my skills, focusing on shooting drills, ballhandling, and conditioning," Oehrlein said. "The early hours are sacred to me. It's a time when I can work on my game without distractions, pushing myself to limits and sharpening my skills."

At least twice a week, Oehrlein's workout routine includes getting in the pool at the YMCA or Hallett Community Center. She will swim roughly 500 yards, 300 of it in a full sprint.

Then, it's off to school.

In the classroom, she is a postsecondary student at Central Lakes College in Brainerd. Her class schedule consists of algebra, exercise science and chemistry. She has a daily meeting with her adviser at the high school. Despite her busy athletic schedule, Oehrlein has a 3.5 grade-point average and also takes two online classes — composition and multicultural communication — her most difficult classes.

When she's not in a gymnasium or classroom, Oehrlein periodically works two jobs, all while remaining family-oriented with her father Josh, mother Sarah and older brother Jordan.

"It's a balance of academics, athletics and chores, mixed with a balance of family and friends that is all balled into one day," Oehrlein said.

Inner motivation

Oehrlein isn't focused solely on basketball. She's a four-sport athlete, also excelling in tennis, track and field and softball.

Currently the ninth-ranked tennis player in Minnesota's Class 1A, she recently won the Section 7 singles championship — the first player in program history to accomplish the feat — to earn a spot in next week's state tournament.

"I have put a lot of time into tennis and really enjoy it," said Oehrlein, who has surpassed 50 career wins at No. 1 singles. "It helps me with my mental game and with quick feet."

Competing in several sports is a taxing cycle. Tennis courts in the fall, gyms in the winter, and track or softball diamond in the spring, her most physically grueling season. Three days a week, Oehrlein heads to the Twin Cities at 5 p.m. to practice three hours with her Minnesota Suns AAU basketball team. She also pitches for the softball team and runs a leg on the 4x400-meter relay team. She's also a high jumper in track.

"Tori is one of the hardest-working kids I have ever met," Rangers basketball coach Pete Vukelich said. "I have coached three different sports in 10 years here at Crosby-Ironton. I also played four sports during high school here. She has everyone that I have ever coached or played with beat. Her motor never stops running."

The basketball court, however, is where Oehrlein separates herself. Oehrlein became the fastest player in state history to reach 3,000 career points, accomplishing the feat in 101 games. She averaged 35.1 points and 15.1 rebounds per game as a sophomore last year. It was her second consecutive season eclipsing 30 points per game.

In November, the 5-11 junior guard ranked as the 40th-best girls basketball recruit in the Class of 2026 according to the HoopGurlz ratings will announce her college plans. Her six finalists are the Gophers, Florida, Maryland, Michigan, Utah and Virginia Tech.

"Tori is as competitive as it gets," Vukelich said. "Whatever she must do to help the team win, she will. She loves the individual accolades and is incredibly proud of them, but I can tell you for certain she would rather get a team win instead of an individual milestone."

Crosby-Ironton has produced stellar athletes before in Bryce Tesdahl, Noah Gindorf and Hayden Zillmer. Tesdahl is Minnetonka's boys basketball coach and was the school's career leading scorer before Oehrlein shattered that record. Gindorff had brief stints with the Seattle Seahawks and Pittsburgh Steelers in the NFL while Zillmer was once a member of Team USA in wrestling.

Oehrlein, though, is in a class of her own.

"Her work ethic and drive are on par with those kind of elite-level athletes," said Mike Gindorff, Noah's father, and Rangers assistant football coach. Gindorff started training Oehrlein when she was in fifth grade through the school's speed and strength program.

"As she has grown up, she has become the best female athlete we've had and one of the best overall athletes to ever come through our school," he said.

Delicate life balance

Oehrlein's plans is to major in sports kinesiology.

In school, her favorite class is exercise science and chemistry "because we do a lot of labs," she said. "I learn best hands-on. Plus, I'm in class with my cousin, London [Zapzalka]. He is crazy smart and able to help me out when I have questions. Mr. [Dan] Bjerga is my algebra teacher [at Central Lakes College] and is great. He is very helpful."

Over the summer and on weekends, Oehrlein serves as a physical therapy aide at Cuyuna Regional Medical Center, where her mother works, or as a cook at Paradise Resort Bar & Grill.

After a long day of training, classwork or a job, it's time to finally get back to the house and eat. The picky eater's favorite meal is tacos.

The route home offers another moment for time to herself.

"My time to unwind is when I'm driving," Oehrlein said. "Me and my radio. I might be the next 'American Idol' if you heard me sing in the car."

Oehrlein pulls into her driveway. It's approaching 7 p.m.

"I'm greeted by my three dogs, who thought I was never coming home," Oehrlein said. "Once I love them up, I head out to the barn where I do my horse chores. We have five horses [and] two of them are mine. It's my responsibility to bring them grain and hay at night. I generally brush my horses out and once they have eaten let them back out in the pasture."

She sits in the living room briefly, watching basketball with her dad, plays with the dogs and gazes at a few TikTok videos. Oehrlein grabs her dog Sunny and heads to bed around 9. She puts on one of her favorite Netflix series and is sound asleep within an hour.

"Tori keeps a tight schedule," said Josh Oehrlein, who is joined once in a while by his daughter in a "noon old man's league," as she calls it. "There is no free time, down time. She stays busy every day."

Oehrlein is wise beyond her years, something many athletes or students her age don't always possess.

"You could see a maturity, focus and intensity that few athletes can match," Gindorff said. "Her work ethic is phenomenal in the classroom and in whatever athletic venue she chooses, be it a tennis court, pool, softball diamond, track and, of course, the basketball court."