I am an 8-time All-American track and cross country runner at St. Norbert College in De Pere, WI (just outside of Green Bay)...

My story is a somewhat unique one... I started off at St. Norbert on the basketball team, as it was my one true passion all through high school. I was a benchwarmer through the entire season, and it was through sitting on that bench that I started to realize I needed something bigger and better in my life. So, having run cross country all 4 years of high school, I began to think about that "runner's high" I used to really truly feel and thought perhaps if I started running again it'd help me cope with not really fitting in on the basketball team.

 I soon rediscovered my love for running and thus decided to contact the track coach. In talking with him, I somehow made a good enough impression for him to allow for me to compete in the Indoor Conference meet, just one week after I had joined the team. I ended up finishing 3rd in the 5K and 4th in the 3K at this meet, and the rest, shall we say, is history. That spring I ran the 5K and 10K, barely breaking 40 minutes in the 10K. That summer, I trained harder than I ever had before, realizing that my potential as a distance runner far outreached my potential as a basketball player. My basketball playing days were over. In my first year in collegiate cross country, I qualified for Nationals and placed 61st. By the following Spring, I qualified for Nationals in the 10K, lowering my time in a year from 39:55 to 36:00.52. I was ranked 17th, just squeezing in to the National meet, but had a great race and ended up placing 6th to earn my first All-American honor as a sophomore.

 Last summer I continued to train like never before and had a cross country season to remember. I took 7th at the National meet to earn my 2nd All-American honor. I then qualified for Indoor Track Nationals for the first time in the 5K, earning my 3rd All-American honor with a 4th place finish in a PR time of 17:05. Then, this past spring Outdoor Track season, I was able to qualify for Nationals in both the 5K and 10K, and while I didn't reach my goal of becoming a National Champion in the 10K, I was still able to PR with a time of 35:48 to place 4th, improving on my placement a year prior. 2 days later, I raced the 5K and again placed 4th with a time of 17:21 in 85+ degree heat! That was one of the hardest races to get through that I can ever remember, and I am pleased I was able to come away from it with my 5th All-American honor.

I just recently re-joined Runnerspace, having completed my junior cross country season and my senior (final!) track and field season. It was another blessed year full of many ups and downs, but more positives than negatives for sure! I finished 10th at the NCAA DIII Cross Country meet in the fall of 2009 and went on to finish 8th in the 5K at Indoor Track Nationals, and then ran a PR 35:21 at the Stanford Invite in March 2010. I was only able to qualify in the 10K for Nationals, missing making it in the 5K by about a second. I finished 4th at Outdoor Nationals in the 10K, which was disappointing but is another All-American honor nonetheless. I am proud of how consistent I have been over the course of my track career.

I have now shifted my focus to summer training and look to cap off my collegiate career with a National title on the cross country course. It's always been my favorite of the 2 (well, really 3) seasons and I am so very excited I have one more shot at this thing! :)

 Running has been quite a whirlwind journey for me, but above all it has brought me more happiness than I ever thought imaginable and has left me fulfilled in a way I can't even quite describe.

Here's a quote I found which describes what running is for me:

"What fun is it? Why all that hard, exhausting work? Where does it get you? Where's the good of it? It is one of the strange ironies of this strange life that those who work the hardest, who subject themselves to the strictest discipline, who give up certain pleasurable things in order to achieve a goal, are the happiest..."

I appreciate your comments and thoughts as I continue to pursue a National Title this Fall... and look forward to wherever running may take me beyond that even!