ST. GEORGE — Brandon Roundy, a Pine View dual-sport athlete, battles with Type 1 diabetes on a day-to-day basis. He plays both golf and baseball for the Panthers, and his condition can sometimes affect his play.

“The hardest part about it is, when he’s low, he feels really lethargic, and he reacts really slow,” said Cole Roundy, Brandon’s dad. “It has the same kind of effect when he’s high. If he doesn’t stay within a range, then it really affects his performance, as far as how he thinks, how he analyzes his shots, everything. He just doesn’t feel good, so it’s hard for him to perform.”

Head golf coach Matt Wieland spoke about how impressive it is for Brandon to play with Type 1 diabetes.

“I grew up in a family with a couple of brothers that are diabetic, so I know what it takes for those guys to be out there and be active,” Wieland said. “My biggest struggle with him is just getting him to be honest with about how he’s feeling. He wants to be out there so bad that sometimes I have to poke and pry to really find out what his blood sugar is. We have to keep a pretty close eye on it, but it’s pretty impressive for him to go out and do what he does.”

Both Brandon and his parents have to make sure that his blood sugar levels stay level throughout the day.

“Before I eat every meal, I have to get some insulin on my pump, and then I have a Dexcom that sends my blood sugars every five minutes,” Brandon said. “Just have to keep that in check. They (his parents) can see it on their phones, so that helps a lot.”

Brandon’s dad also spoke to how useful the Dexcom has been as a monitor of his son’s blood sugar.

“With the Dexcom, it’s a continuous monitor of his blood sugar, where it transmits from his phone to my wife’s phone, and to my phone, so we can see his numbers at all times,” Cole Roundy said. “Anytime he goes low or high, we can send Matt (Wieland) a message, and he can either make him take a little insulin or get him some sugar where he can get back to a normal range.”

When Brandon’s levels do get low or high, they affect his ability to perform to an extent. Brandon sometimes fights through it, exhibiting how much he cares about performing for his team.

“It just shows you how important winning is to him and how much it means to him to go out there and perform well,” Wieland said. “Sometimes, that is the struggle. There are probably some times he shouldn’t be out there — but try and tell him that.”

On the course, Brandon has been a consistent golfer.

“Of all the players on the team, he’s a guy that I know I can count on every week,” Wieland said. “He’s always within a stroke or two of his season average.”

While Brandon’s favorite golfer is Dustin Johnson, and his club of choice is his driver, the sophomore actually has a greater love for the sport of baseball.

When asked about his favorite sport, Brandon said, “It’s definitely close, but probably baseball. I’ve been playing it a little longer.”

Outside of athletics, Brandon is an exemplary student, and Wieland was complimentary of both him and his twin brother, Brock.

“Him and his brother Brock are both kids that you’ll never hear anybody say a bad word about them. Everywhere I go, people ask me how they’re doing, and the response is always the same. Everybody loves them; they love everybody.”

In the classroom, Brandon usually maintains a 4.0 GPA.

“School is definitely important,” Brandon said. “You have to keep those grades up and get caught up, because you miss a lot for golf. It’s definitely important to stay up on your grades. I just try to talk to my teachers about if we’re going to miss school and just try to be friendly to the teachers.”

Brandon and his brother Brock both play golf and baseball. They share a tight bond.

“Basically everything I play, he plays,” Brandon said. “We’re pretty close.”

Wieland has high hopes for Brandon but says he recognizes that he is only a sophomore and there is still a lot of room for growth.

“My goals for him is just to see him continue to work and get better,” Wieland said. “We’ve seen improvement from last year to this year, and it’s exciting to know that he is only a sophomore. When you figure we still have two more years of improvement, it’s going to be exciting to see what him and his brother both do in the coming years.”

Brandon will join his fellow Panthers for the team’s next round of golf Wednesday at Sand Hollow Golf Course in Hurricane, with a 1 p.m. tee time.

Copyright St. George News, SaintGeorgeUtah.com LLC, 2019, all rights reserved.