"It's a matter of focusing on what's important to you and giving those things your best effort all the time," said Krall. "I obviously had to put a lot of work into athletics and academics, but by figuring out my priorities I was able to get a lot done."
Krall added that while balancing his time was difficult, he is proud of what he accomplished here. He said he is glad he got to play baseball and focus on chemistry at an advanced level, even though it limited his spare time.
"I found that to do both baseball and chemistry at the level I wanted, it took up a lot of my free time. But I don't feel that one suffered for the sake of the other," he said. "I feel like I got everything that I wanted to get out of Amherst."
Chemical adventures
Krall spent much of his time in college doing research in the field of bioorganic chemistry, also called chemical biology. Bioorganic chemists synthesize organic molecules that they then use to study biological systems, particularly interactions between proteins, or between a protein and DNA, and other similar applications. Often, these organic molecules are designed to inhibit an interaction in a cell that is associated with a particular disease. This process is essentially low-level drug development.
For his thesis, Krall studied the ability of a series of organic molecules to block a crucial interaction in HIV between TAR RNA and Tat-protein. Interaction is essential for the replication of the HIV genome, so blocking it can halt (or at least significantly slow down) viral replication. The molecules, a series of oligoamines, were synthesized in Associate Professor Morgan Conn's lab last year. Unfortunately, Krall spent most of his time trying to overcome technical difficulties and did not get the results he was hoping for.
In addition to his interest in chemistry, Krall also enjoys studying history and has taken a number of European history courses, although he doesn't plan on pursuing a career related to those studies. "It's just something that I enjoy learning about," he said. "I read a lot about European history in my spare time, and it really intrigues me. Science is very interesting, but it isn't something that I like to be thinking about all the time."
Additionally, Krall has spent the last three summers doing research in chemistry at the California Institute of Technology (Caltech). He worked in Caltech Professor Peter Dervan's lab for the last two summers, doing research on DNA binding molecules that are capable of inhibiting the expression of specific genes. Krall said these molecules have the potential to be used as drugs to treat genetic diseases in the future.
On the diamond
During summers working at Caltech, Krall spent many of his weekends honing his baseball skills by playing in various college leagues in the Los Angeles area.
This work has clearly paid off during the college season.
Krall has been the starting shortstop for the Jeffs since he came to Amherst four years ago, and he has had an impressive career. In four years he played in 126 games and never batted below .300 in a season. In his career he racked up a .322 batting average with eight home runs, 79 runs scored and 88 RBIs.
During his sophomore year Krall enjoyed what he remembers as "his best times at Amherst." In 1999 the Jeffs put together a remarkable run through the NCAA Regional Tournament, and they fell just short of making it to the Div. III College World Series. The Jeffs lost in the Regional Finals of the NCAA Tournament to Brandeis University, but not before pasting together a 25-10 record.
Krall was named to the All-Tournament Team as the starting shortstop, but this was hardly the only baseball award that he received in his time at Amherst.
While playing in a game in Los Angeles, Krall injured his wrist during an at-bat. He didn't really notice the injury during the game, but the next day he had problems moving his wrist. A tendon in his wrist had slipped out of its sheath and required surgery. After the operation, Krall was unable to throw a baseball or swing a bat for months, but amazingly his talent never skipped a beat.
Although the 2001 campaign left the Jeffs with a lukewarm 20-14 record after being knocked out of the NESCAC Tournament, Krall continued to play well and contribute to the team effort, even after suffering what could have been a debilitating injury over the summer.
This year, Krall was named to the District I All-Academic team and he is on the ballot for Academic All-American honors in the New England District.
Rhode rules
With his combination of academic and athletic achievement, Krall might seem like a shoo-in for scholarship programs, but winning the Rhodes was not an easy task.
"I spent the second half of last summer working on a 1,000-word personal statement for the Rhodes application," said Krall. The application for the scholarship is extensive and thorough, and consists of a personal statement, a list of activities and awards and five to eight references. "This personal statement took over a month to complete, because for something like this, it never seems like it is good enough," said Krall.
After completing the application it was a waiting game to see if Krall received an interview out of the Californian applicant pool. There are two rounds of interviews required for the Rhodes: one at the state level and one at the district level. Only about 20 to 25 percent of all applicants receive an interview at the state level, and then the selected few move on to the district interviews. There are 16 applicants accepted for interviews at the state level, and that shrinks to 12 for the district level. Each one of the eight districts in the country then selects four of these applicants as Rhodes Scholars.
"Going into the process, my goal was just to get an interview. I didn't even really consider winning a Rhodes," Krall said.
Over Thanksgiving break, Krall found out that he got an interview. The interviews for both the state and district were held in San Francisco, and both consisted of a cocktail party for the applicants and the interviewers to meet and interact on a casual level. The next day consisted of a half-hour interview with the panel of interviewers (six at the state level, nine at the district level).
"After everyone had interviewed, we all had to sit together and wait while the interviewers decided who was going to go on to the district (or who was going to win a Rhodes)," said Krall. "Then the interviewers came out and read off names in front of the whole group. It was a very stressful situation. I was in complete shock when I found out that I won. I knew I had had a good interview, but I still didn't think it was possible that I would win a Rhodes Scholarship."
Krall said that one of the best things about the interviews was that he got to meet the other applicants, who were all very interesting and talented.
"I still keep in touch with some of them," he said, "and I hope to continue to do so in the future."
Synthe-sizing up his future
Next year Krall will travel to England, where he will spend the next two years at Oxford University. During his stay, he will do research in the field of organic synthesis in the lab of Sir Jack Baldwin.
"I'm excited about getting to study in England, about meeting all sorts of new people and about traveling around and seeing Europe," he said.
Krall said he plans to get a master's degree at Oxford, and when he gets back he will head to Harvard University to get a Ph.D. in bioorganic chemistry. "I want to get a good background in synthesis before I begin my Ph.D. program, because this background will make me a much more qualified and able bioorganic chemist," he said.
He added that after he gets his Ph.D., he wants to be a professor of chemistry "at a rather large school where I can have a decent-sized research group."