Rhiannon Novelli '18 Recruiting Profile

Playing soccer my entire life up until the eighth grade, I had never realized how much running could change someone's life. Sure we would run laps in soccer, but I never could fathom how anyone could ever do it as their sole sport. It wasn't until spring track of sixth grade when I decided to try out for the middle school track team in order to give myself extra training as a midfielder. I fell in love with the sport and continued spring track throughout the rest of middle school. It was not until the start of my freshman year when I cut my ties with soccer, and began concentrating solely on cross country and track.

Running has taught me so much about myself and my body.  It has even sparked my interest in the study of kineosiology, exercise science and/or sports training. I used running to help control the stress that I felt during the new classes and transitions of my freshmen year. Each season I set a personal goal that I worked diligently throughout practices and meets to attain. I feel like running has helped to make me a more organized person, and I cannot picture starting my day without a morning run. In fact, cross country and track pushed me the most this year in the classroom, having to manage my time wisely and still make time for extra-curricular activities and my friends and family. I am very motivated to accomplish as many goals as possible throughout my running career in high school and college. I have already learned, so far, that my body is a machine that needs the proper fuel in order to function at its highest capacity.  So in the future, I would like to work in a related field -- helping young athletes like myself, who feel connected to their sport and are determined to take the route to be the very best they can be. This is what sets me apart from my other competitors:  I have a strong connection with my body and can understand how all the things I provide for it will come back to help me with my running.