Schrader beating the pressure

DeKALB – Even before her 38th place finish at the state cross country meet last year, Kelsey Schrader knew about the hoards of people, the pressure and the fast Detweiller Park course.

She had been to the meet three times to watch her brother, Nick, and sister, Ashley, and she knew she wanted to be in that lead pack someday.

Still, nothing could have prepared her for the pressure of the meet last year, when she qualified individually as a freshman.

"It's completely different running it," Schrader said. "I knew how big it was going to be, but when you're put into the position of you running it, it seems so much bigger than it actually is."

This year was completely different.

Schrader knew about the pressure. She knew she would be a contender, now that Dekalb was in Class 2A. And, maybe most importantly, her team was there with her this time.

"It created a little more normalcy," coach Mike Wolf said. "It was like another Saturday, a big invite with her team in her box. She had said she didn't want to run this year at the state meet by herself. That was the charge and inspiration this year."

After taking the lead at the race's halfway point, breaking up the lead pack, Schrader battled with Crystal Lake's Sami Staples for the rest of the race.

Staples outkicked Schrader in the end, but the DeKalb sophomore finished second with a time of 17:11, a 38-second improvement from her freshman season.

She led DeKalb to a ninth-place finish, and for that she was named the Daily Chronicle's Girls Cross Country Runner of the Year.

Normally, Schrader would have been deflated with a second-place finish. Not this time.

"I thought I was going to be disappointed because I'm usually pretty hard on myself," Schrader said. "But when I crossed the line I knew I couldn't have given any more. I left everything I had out on the course. If second was what I was going to get I was just fine with that."

The first people to greet her when she came out of the shoot were Nick and Ashley, who surprised Kelsey with her presence before the race. Her two siblings had tears in their eyes when their younger sister crossed the finish line.

"Nick tried to hide it more, but Ashley was hugging me and she was just bawling," Schrader said. "When Nick saw me take the lead, he started to tear up. They don't really cry or get emotional about things, so it was just really cool to see that. I knew that they were really, really proud of me."

Schrader knows there's always room for improvement.

She wants to improve her kick so she can win races down the stretch, and her stride is always something she's looking to improve.

If she keeps improving for the next two years, she knows offers from colleges will start coming in.

"I just want to keep my focus on high school and make sure I keep up on my academics and keep going strong with running," Schrader said.

"Just thinking about it, it's so cool because not many people can say that they have an opportunity to get a college scholarship."