Being both a full-time student and a full time athlete is no easy task, but almost every athlete finds a way to make it work. Students show their dedication not only to their sports, but also to the numerous other organizations they are involved with on campus.

Cross country and track runner, Jamie Michl, is no exception to this statement. As a sophomore, Michl now holds the second best records in the indoor 600m dash and 800m, while her 4x400m relay team holds the All-time record. On top of her duties as a runner, Michl also excels in the classroom.

In the previous semester, Michl maintained 18 credit hours with a 4.0 GPA as well as the academic achievement of making the High Dean’s list.

“I knew I needed good grades so I did what I could to make those,” Michl said. “I kept myself organized and studied as hard as possible. I also stayed up as long as it took to complete all of my work.”

On top of her class work, Michl is involved in Student Athlete Advisory Committee, SAAC, and Illinois Education Association, IEA. Being an elementary education major fueled Michl’s desire to be involved in IEA. After graduation, Michl wishes to teach either third or fourth grade in the future as well as coach high school cross country track.

“I want to teach upper elementary because I feel like those grades really have an impact on a child’s life,” Michl said. “As a teacher, you must build a student’s foundation in order for them to succeed later on.”

Due to her recent case of Bursitis, which is an injury of the knee, Michl is currently unable to run, but is instead doing her own workouts in the pool. Although the pool work is beneficial, she misses the workouts with her team.

“I expect to run again by next week (or that would be my goal),” Michl said. “It really kills me to not run in practice and meets so I can’t wait to get back out on the track.”

Being both a cross country and track runner, it is easy to develop a bias towards one or the other. However, when asked which sport she enjoys running in more, Michl said, “I love both. There are too many differences to pinpoint which one I like more. Originally, I thought I liked track more but after running cross country for a season, it made me indecisive about which one I liked better. I just love to run, it doesn’t really matter which sport I’m running for.”