Elise Keller
News/Opinion Editor
Senior Nicolette Schnettgoecke has run cross country since freshman year, and in her senior year she was named November Athlete of the Month and ran in the MSHSAA Cross Country State Championship this year.
Schnettgoecke considers her best accomplishment to be, “this year at Sectionals where I made it to State. By myself I was 27th, and (sophomore) Elizabeth Teeter was 31st, so we worked together the whole race. It was a really amazing race, and then I made it to State, so, yeah, it was pretty cool.”
In the State Championship, Schnettgoecke placed 142nd and was the only runner from Webster’s Women’s Cross Country team to compete at State. She ran a 5k, about three miles, with a total time of 21:44.16.
Elizabeth Teeter, sophomore, ran with Schnettgoecke this year, and the pair became close as running partners and as friends.
“It was a really good experience running together. We got to know each other and became really close friends, especially near the last few races. When they got more intense, we worked together to push each other to run faster. We worked as a pair which I think helped us both a lot,” Teeter said.
Schnettgoecke has made many memories in her four years of running with team building experiences, including one eventful camping trip.
“It’s really funny, but (my favorite memory was) probably at the camping trip we went on before my junior year. We weren’t experienced at camping, and we tried to boil ice to have water to make mac and cheese. It didn’t work, and we left everything out, and raccoons got to the macaroni and cheese. It was pretty funny,” Schnettgoecke said.
About what she’ll miss most, Schnettgoecke said, “Probably all the friends I made. Actually the workouts, which is surprising, but they were just, it’s mentally hard, but then it’s really rewarding in the end.”
Overall, Schnettgoecke’s running career has been beneficial to her high school experience and helped her gain life skills.
“It’s definitely helped me grow as a leader and helped me make a lot of friends. (It’s) probably just helped me focus better on school because I had something that was mentally challenging athletic-wise and then going home and having to do homework. It just helped a lot with time management and mental strategies, things like that,” Schnettgoecke said.
“I think she has a really good work ethic. She works super hard for what she wants to achieve, and she always brings good spirit and determination to whatever she does. She leads the group. She’s our team leader,” Teeter said about what made Schnettgoecke successful.
Looking back to the beginning of Schnettgoecke’s time in high school, she almost didn’t choose to run.
“I actually decided I wanted to run the night before the first practice,” Schnettgoecke said.
To the people wanting to be successful in cross country, Schnettgoecke would say to, “Just go in with a good mental attitude because it’ll take all your willpower and mental strength. Just don’t ever give up because the first couple meets will be rough but then you’ll just keep improving.”
Schnettgoecke plans to attend Saint Louis University and hopes to continue running.
“SLU is D1, so I don’t think I’ll be running there, but I definitely will try to do an intramural running group or something like that,” Schnettgoecke said.
Visit Our Sponsors
