photo: Jennifer Schoenegge
I started running when I moved to Indiana from Arizona. I moved in the 4th grade and my parents wanted to put me into a sport. The school districts in Southern Indiana put together NATC ( New Albany Track Club), which is a mile run for grade school kids. I ended up being really good at it and continued running into middle school. There I started to show major improvement and grew connections with the team. Those girls are the same ones I am with today and they have become the closest people in my life.
My two most memorable highlights would be winning regionals my junior year and competing in the FootLocker Track Championships 2021. Winning regionals individually was really important and amazing to me because I beat an highly ranked runner and set a new course record and PR of 18:20. Before then my times were in the 18:40 range so this big jump was really amazing and unbelievable. My second one was going to Huntsville, Alabama for the FootLocker Championships. There was a lot of top notch and nationally ranked runners there and I was able to race among them. After a disappointing finish at my state meet, this meet was a great way to end things. I “broke” 5 flat in the mile with a time of 5:00.00. I think getting it even is better than actually going under. It is still a funny thing to think about and exciting that I was that close to breaking it.
My favorite subject in school is science courses. Science classes are really exciting and interesting to learn about. Of the ones I have taken my favorites are Zoology, Anatomy and AP Biology.
I recently became a vegetarian and have been for the past 4 months. I have seen a lot of improvements in my health and overall body fitness.
My favorite track workout is 300s because they aren’t super short but still a really good speed workout. I also really love K repeats, although they may hurt in the moment they are super beneficial and mentally developing.
My favorite place to run is on a road called John Pectol. This road goes on for about 2.5 miles and is just a straight and flat route. It is really good for tempo workouts but also good for our longer runs because it also takes a mile to get there so it gives us a high mileage run.
My favorite food would have to be ice cream but more specifically mint chocolate chip gelato. Gelato is the Italian form of ice cream and has a richer taste. It is my favorite cheat meal.
Qdoba and Dragon King's Daughter
I would consider myself very musically diverse, I love almost any kind of music.My two favorite would have to be 70s rock and Alternative.
My favorite TV shows would be the Queens Gambit, Anne with an E and Stranger Things
My favorites would have to be Snapchat for my close friends and Instagram for small businesses and people around the world.
Eliud Kipchoge
Chris Evans
I don’t have a top role model but rather that everyone around me are my role models. Everyone has something different to offer and those unique things give way to all kinds of philosophies and morals. I’ve learned so much about myself from those I surround myself with and I love everything about it.
Emma Coburn
My goal for track is to continue dropping time in my 1600/mile time along with exploring new events that I didn’t get to do last year. I am really interested to see my 800 time along with how well I can go in the 3200 if I really put emphasis on it this year. I would also love to enjoy relays with my team and see how we can do at the state meet. Improvement/Development along with competing well at the state meet are my main goals for next season.
A really big factor was coach McDonough and her coaching style and the girls she is bringing in. I am really excited to be alongside Bailey Ranta and Karina James, both Indiana runners, and to get to know them. Coach McDonough has been really amazing and she and I really connected and have a lot in common. I am really excited to see how these years go with her along with our coach/athlete relationship.
I looked at almost every other school in the MAC and some various other schools that had checked all the boxes that I was looking for in a school.
Either Environmental Studies of some sort or Nursing. This is still something I am trying to figure out and trying to see which one peaks my interest more. I want to go into a job that I will love so this has been a very strenuous process
A lot of things depend on how much growth I have as an athlete in my years at college. I am either hoping to continue running and potentially go pro after college or continue running for fun and start my journey in whichever direction it takes me.