Seven Years a Badger | Wisconsin Badgers

I didn’t plan on spending seven years as a Wisconsin student-athlete, but that’s how it’s turned out.

I was 18 in 2015 when I enrolled at UW after being recruited to run for the men’s cross country and track teams.

I got my undergraduate degree in biology in 2019 and will be almost 25 when I get my master’s in kinesiology in May.

I don’t think I’m the first person to follow such a long road to getting an education at a school like Wisconsin, but there’s a part of me that’s curious to know if anyone else has done it while competing in a Division I sport at the same time.

It’s normal for college athletes to redshirt their first year — using the time to get adjusted physically, emotionally and academically to a new level of demands — and then spend four more years getting an undergraduate degree. That’s how my college career began after coming to UW from Madison West High School.

Then came Achilles and knee injuries that forced me to miss a year of racing and be granted a medical redshirt from the NCAA. That led to my sixth year. 

Then came the coronavirus pandemic, which prevented me from competing for another year, but also put me in a position to have one more season of competition in cross country, indoor track and outdoor track for the Badgers.