Athletes of the Month

New teammate has a good beginning season to set up future success.

November’s Gregg Schindler Female Athlete of the Month is Carlee Kromolicki, a freshman running for the Varsity Cross Country team. Despite being new to high school, Kromolicki is already the sixth fastest runner at J W Mitchell, and she continues to improve.

Her personal best 5 kilometer run this season so far is a 19:39. Practicing almost daily, she works to run faster and longer, as the team’s six mile training helps her to build the endurance needed for tense competition.

“I really focus on running faster every time. When we run the six miles, I run it to get better at the 5Ks,” Kromolicki said.

The team was successful at their last District meet, when they qualified for the Regional meet. Although the first year of competition can be formidable, she didn’t let her mentality break, as she was aspiritive in her efforts.

“Under pressure, I’ll just take deep breaths and tell myself ‘it’s OK, you can keep going’. I just think about finishing, and getting it done. Running on the team has made me more confident to do more and experience more things,” Kromolicki said. So far, she is content with her achievements, being that she is a freshman and already making gains within the team. One of her future goals is running a 16:30 5K by her senior year, as she plans to run throughout the rest of her high school career.

“When I achieve a goal, I feel relieved and I feel like I can achieve more. I think I’ve helped the team get to Regionals, and I’m hoping to help them get to States,” Kromolicki said.

Beyond high school, she plans on continuing to run for college and getting faster, possibly going to the University of Tampa or the University of South Florida. She also plans to run in the State meet, this Nov. 7. Congratulations to Carlee Kromolicki on earning the November 2022 Gregg Schindler Female Athlete of the Month award! Top: Kromolicki fights for the finish line and powers through, completing her 5K at her first cross country meet at River Ridge High School. Bottom: Kromolicki poses after finishing her first 5K meet at River Ridge High School.

A seasoned competitor discusses how training and a lot of motivation

has kept his focus on a successful season and a more successful future.

The male Gregg Schindler student athlete of the month is Cole Schaeffer (‘24.) This remarkable athlete has been competing in regional swimming and making waves for six years. Schaeffer began looking into competitive swimming when he was in fourth grade after having a try at another sport, but he ultimately chose swim as the sport where his efforts would be most rewarded. He competes as a free swimmer. Free swim is where the competing swimmer assumes a position with their arms and legs dragging through the water while the torso remains still.

When an athlete has been engaging with one sport for a long period of time, it is safe to assume that they have experienced both negative and positive outcomes. Schaeffer jokes about how he handles losing an event, “We say this as swimmers, it is not always true, sometimes you have a bad pool that you swim in,” he added “I don’t try to dwell over it too Cole Schaeffer (second from left) poses with his relay team after competing at the district meet.

much but I still reflect on it.” Keeping this positive attitude and mindset has helped the young athlete improve impeccably in skill. “I actually dropped time in everything I swam, ‘’ explained the swimmer.

Dropping from a time of 54 last year in the free 100 category to a 52 this year, Schaeffer hopes to train and strengthen as the season goes on so that he may make it to state next year. “In the off season I’m going to keep up the work and hopefully get down to that [state levels] next year.” After making regionals this year, Cole now has his eyes set on possibly attending UF, the University of Florida. In honor of making regionals Schaeffer and his teammates celebrate before the competition by having a swim team party. The athlete talks about the positivity surrounding his team. “It’s great we all have a super fun time!”

Many players have role models or other athletes that they look up to for inspiration. Schaeffer’s personal swim hero’s are Katie Ledecky, Andrew Taylor, and Michael Phelps. With a hopeful and bright future ahead of him Schaeffer deliberates how swimming will fit into that future. “If I could get a scholarship that would be really great, like UF, that would be the best.” Congratulations to Cole Schaeffer for being the Gregg Schindler of the month!