The stress of being a student athlete can be a great one. Students have to juggle homework, chores at home, practice schedules and all of the pressure that comes with competing in a sport in front of their peers, family and fans.

For Austin senior Nik Gasner and junior Dylan Gasner, they find relief when they are competing in athletics. The brothers have competed on the Packer basketball and baseball teams together over the past few years, and by doing that they have helped themselves and their mother more than any common bystander would know.

Nik and Dylan’s mom, Samantha Gasner, was diagnosed with Renal Cell Carcinoma — a kidney cancer — three years ago and she had that kidney removed. The cancer came back a year ago when she was diagnosed with Anaplastic Astrocytoma, a form of brain cancer.

Samantha recently started a new round of chemotherapy, which is a process over she is all to familiar with. Over the past few years, she has had plenty of days where she struggles to get out of bed because of the fatigue she suffers. Due to her treatment schedule, there have been times that Nik and Dylan have had to live with other families for a week or two.

But when game day rolls around for her boys, Samantha makes sure she does whatever she can to watch them play.

“It means everything. My kids are what get me through. Nik and Dylan get me through all of the horrible treatments and feeling crappy,” Samantha said. “I’ve had days where I can’t do anything and I just lay around, but on those days where they have games I’ll spend all day sleeping just to see those couple of hours were they’re playing basketball or baseball. That gets me through. If it wasn’t for Nik and Dylan I really don’t know where I’d be in life. I really don’t know if I’d be alive.”

The bond between Samantha and her boys is a strong one. She coached Nik’s sixth grade baseball team when the family lived in Blooming Prairie and that squad went undefeated. Nik enjoyed his time playing for his mom, but she had a habit of making him run a lot because he did a lot of talking during practices.

After playing for his mom, Nik has spent the past few years playing with his younger brother. Nik has been one of Austin’s top pitchers for the past few seasons and Dylan has been starting at catcher since he was a freshman.

Nik looks forward to game days and there are some days that he needs time that time on the baseball diamond to give his mind a chance to slow down.

“For me sports are sometimes the only way to get away from everything going on at home,” Nik said. “Sometimes it’s the one place I can go out and be myself and not have to think to much about what’s going on at home with my mom. That’s always a good relief for me and there’s nowhere else I’d rather be when I’m dealing with the things we have to deal with at home.”

Dylan knows that his mom loves watching him play and that definitely motivates him when he’s competing.

“We know that she looks forward to coming to our stuff,” he said. “She likes to see us succeed so we try and do the best we can to put a smile on her face.”

When they’re at practice or at a game, Dylan and Nik are usually pretty locked in, but there are always times when emotions are going to pop up when a son is worried about his mom’s health. Austin head boys basketball coach said that Nik was more vocal about his feelings than Dylan, but both of them needed support.

“They’re just nice kids. Nik’s probably a little more emotional [than Dylan],” Fadness said. “I don’t think any of us will truly know how hard it has been on them, but you know it has been. [Samantha’s] been fighting through health battles for along time now and they’ve done the best they can with it.”

The town of Austin has rallied behind the Gasner’s in a time of need as both boys have spent time living under other families roofs. Sawyer Myers, a senior at Austin High School, is a good friend of Nik’s and he’s had both Nik and Dylan stay at his home for a stretch of time. Myers has been a supportive friend to Nik, but he admits that it’s hard to relate to what Nik and Dylan are going through on a daily basis.

“I think it’s been really hard for them. They try not to show it or let it get to them. But you can see it. They really push through it and they work hard to not let it bother them,” Myers said. “It really shows that life is precious and every day is not given. It’s a little weird sometimes because the idea is kind of scary and I can’t imagine going through what they are [going through].”

Spring time is a time for excitement in the Gasner household — it’s when baseball season rolls around and that’s the sport that Nik and Dylan focus on. Nik has committed to play college baseball at Iowa Lakes, a Division II NJCAA school and Dylan was invited to the Top Prospect Games, a summer camp that includes high school baseball players looking to play at the college level.

Austin head baseball coach Chris Gogolewski said he’s well aware of Nik and Dylan’s home life and he’s open to sitting down with them and letting them vent any day, and he’s also open to giving them practice off on the tougher days.

On the field, he has complete trust in the Gasner brothers.

“I’m comfortable knowing what they can do,” Gogolewski said. “I basically can turn the game almost completely over to them. Knowing that they know each other so well, that takes away a lot of the worry for me.”

Joe Ciola started coaching Nik on the 11 and under All-Stars and he has coached both players on the Austin VFW baseball team. He’s seen both of them grown mentally on the field over the past few years and he’s embraced his time coaching them.

“[Their home life] has certainly put them on an uneven ground. But they’d had sports and they’ve had each other to go out and play with other friends. It’s helped them take their minds off an unpredictable situation,” Ciola said. “It’s been a great experience coaching them. But more importantly, it’s been a better experience getting close to them and being their friend. They’re great kids and their mom’s done a great job with them. They’re very easy to coach and I look forward to continue working with them.”

Samantha said she cried the first time she saw Nik pitch to Dylan in a varsity game for the Packers and this Spring and Summer will be the last time the Gasner boys play high school and Legion baseball together.

Samantha has pushed her boys to get better their whole lives and she’s very pleased with the players they have become.

“To have this be the end as far as their high school career together will be emotional, but I’m going to enjoy it as long as I can,” Samantha said. “I’m excited to see where they both go in life. It’s emotional what’s going on. But this is what I’ve always wanted for them. To see it actually happening is more than I can ask for in life.”

Dylan pointed out that there have been years he has played without Nik, but he has learned a lot from playing with his big brother these past few years.

“It was nice to have a couple of years where we could be on the same team and work together, even though we don’t get along sometimes,” Dylan said.

Nik is hoping to make his last season with the Austin baseball team count.

“I’m excited, but at the same time I don’t want it to be the last year playing with Dylan,” he said. “I like seeing how much he’s grown over the last couple of years. Being on the field with him has been a blast for me.”

The Packers are set to open their season 5 p.m. at Mankato West Thursday and Austin’s home opener is noon Saturday against Red Wing.