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UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. (U-Wire) -- Her mentor is April Heinrichs. Her apprentice is Mia Hamm. Her audience includes soccer fans across the world.

And yet in the end, Christie Welsh is just a 19-year-old college student. Except for last spring, that is.

	“	Welsh is a fantastic young player who came in and joined us and is learning a lot," Heinrichs said. "She is a lucky young player to be in camp with us and to learn from Mia Hamm and Cindy Parlow. ”
		— U.S. national team coach April Heinrichs

Instead of attending class during what would have been the spring semester of her freshman year at Penn State, Welsh attended practice -- with the U.S. women's national soccer team. And while taking off the semester, Welsh learned how to train with the best. She learned what it meant to be professional. She learned what it meant to compete at the highest level.

And the 5-foot-10 forward held her own.

"It's kind of like being thrown from the frying pan into the fryer with this team," said Hamm, the world's all-time scoring leader, man or woman. "But she's handling it extremely well. She skies over me. She's a lot stronger. You've just seen a glimpse of her development." College soccer fans across the country caught a glimpse last fall. As a freshman, Welsh scored 27 goals -- including nine game-winning goals -- and also tallied 13 assists in 26 starts, leading Penn State to its first-ever Final Four appearance. In addition to being named the Big Ten Player of the Year and the conference's Freshman of the Year, Welsh also earned a spot on the NSCAA/adidas All-America first team.

"She had an outstanding year at Penn State," Christie's father, Don, said. "She scores goals. That's what she does. That's her thing."

An opportunist, Welsh was able to do for the national squad what she did at Penn State -- score goals. Although Welsh, one of the national team's youngest players, started just five of 15 games with the national team, she scored 11 goals and tallied three assists in 744 minutes. She helped the United States win the Australia Cup in January by scoring her first goal in her first national team appearance -- against the Czech Republic.

Heinrichs was impressed.

"Welsh is a fantastic young player who came in and joined us and is learning a lot," Heinrichs said. "She is a lucky young player to be in camp with us and to learn from Mia Hamm and Cindy Parlow."

Still, Welsh got the bulk of her schooling from national team captain and midfielder Julie Foudy, who was responsible for keeping Welsh in line and for making sure Welsh was sticking to the on- and off-field training regimen.

"Julie Foudy dragged (Welsh) all over the weight room for 45 minutes, three times a week," Heinrichs said. "There are a million American girls who would love to do that. Welsh is absorbing every ounce of soccer she can."

But there is only so much room on Heinrichs' team. Not everyone can tag along for the 2000 Olympics in Sydney. And, for now, that means it's not quite Welsh's time. So humbly, she returns to Happy Valley after being named one of four alternates to the U.S. Olympic team.

Still, Welsh knows the importance of her national team experiences.

"I want to bring back the work ethic that this team has," Welsh said, comparing this season's team at Penn State to he national team. "I have seen a whole different level. If I can share any part of that with my team, I think I can help them so much."