Bishop Chatard High School girls basketball coach Kevin Sweeney heard firsthand about the adversities and obstacles involved in attending the U.S. Naval Academy from his brother . . . and has no doubt Beth Reed can handle it.

"She looks at things like, 'Pain's inevitable, suffering is optional,' " Sweeney said of the senior. "No matter how things are going, no matter what stress is acting on her, there's no sign of weakness. She has an insatiable desire and motivation to succeed regardless of the setbacks. She has the emotional stability and tenaciousness to make it through the rigorous academic, athletics and everything else that goes into (attending the Naval Academy)."

Reed committed to Navy last weekend to play soccer and is considering walking-on for basketball. She holds Bishop Chatard's career records among goalies for minutes (4,480), goals against average (0.77), shutouts (38) and saves (240), and holds the records in basketball for assists (301) and steals (225). The Trojans play Rushville at noon Saturday in the basketball regional semifinals at Mount Vernon High School.

"I felt really comfortable (at Navy)," said Reed, who also visited the universities of Pennsylvania, Connecticut and Illinois. "They don't try to hide (how tough it is). The first year is rough. . . . But I've talked to a lot of people and everybody says it pays off."

Reed plans to major in engineering.

Navy began its women's soccer program in 1993 and won at least a share of the Patriot League championship in 1998, '99, 2001, '02 and '03, becoming the first women's sports team at the school to earn an NCAA Tournament berth that year with an unbeaten regular season. The team was 10-8-2 last season. Sweeney said West Point recruited Reed in basketball and believes she's capable of playing the sport at Navy if her schedule allows.

"I think she wanted that (challenge of attending Navy)," Bishop Chatard girls soccer coach Ben Beasley said of Reed, who has a 4.5 grade-point average on a 4.0 scale. "She entertained a lot of offers from higher nationally ranked soccer programs but felt like the whole Navy experience is what she wanted."