By: Stevan Zlojutro '16

BEREA, OHIO --  Baldwin Wallace University senior women's cross country and track and field middle-distance runner Brooke Hradisky (Aurora) has found a balance in athletics, academics and leadership during her first three years at the University. Heading into her senior season, she will look to continue to develop those skills and set a good example both on and off the field as she leads both the cross country and track teams.

"Brooke has developed herself in the athletic, academic and leadership areas," said veteran Head Coach Dr. Bill Taraschke, who has led 47 Yellow Jacket track and cross country teams to Ohio Athletic Conference titles. "As a result, she sees the big picture of why she is doing what she is doing. She is a very bright, intelligent young lady and has been a very talented athlete, but her growth as an individual has been outstanding."

During both her sophomore and junior seasons, Hradisky led the women's track team in the 800-meter run both on the indoor and outdoor tracks, but her accomplishments in athletics did not come easy. As a freshman during the outdoor track season, Hradisky suffered from a stress fracture that sidelined her for that entire season.

"It was devastating," said Hradisky thinking back on that time in her career. "I did not see it coming. It was partially my own fault. I had never trained with that intensity before. It was not until this summer that I actually started going full force again, just because you need to be cautious. The injury was bigger for me mentally, because it meant that I went an entire extra year without running on the outdoor track, which is just a different game. I had a hard time overcoming it. It just took time on both ends to recover, both mentally and physically."

"It is unfortunate and we do everything we can to prevent that from happening," said Taraschke on Hradisky's injury. "You just feel very bad for the student-athlete, because they want to compete very badly and they just cannot. Brooke has had a lot of emotional growth over the years and that was just another learning experience for her. She has used that learning experience to prepare herself better. It takes a while to learn how to go about your practices."

Hradisky put in a lot of hard work during that summer off-season to recover and pull herself out of one of the most disappointing downfalls of her career. She slowly prepared herself for her upcoming sophomore year.

"Coming back from the injury, I worked with Coach Taraschke," said Hradisky. "We changed some workouts and made them more specific for something my body would respond to. It was just train smarter, not harder, and the goals fell right back in line."

All of Hradisky's off-season hard work payed off, because it was the following track season when she began setting those team-bests in the 800-meter runs.

"I just expected that of myself," said Hradisky about setting team-best marks following her injury. "I came in wanting to be the best. That is one of my goals, to lead the team. Even as a freshman, I wanted to come in and prove myself and make my mark."

From the injury, Hradisky had also learned that she needed to step in and be a leader to the younger athletes when she saw them struggling.

"When the freshman start saying, 'I am sore,' I say, 'stop,' just because I have been through it," said Hradisky. "Everyone says, 'no, I can keep pushing,' but I am the one who steps in and says, 'no,' because I have been in their situation. I do not want anyone else to have to go through that."

Hradisky is not only a leader on the field, but she also leads by example with her efforts in the classroom. Following the end of this spring semester, Hradisky was one of twenty-six Baldwin Wallace student-athletes to garner 2013 Academic All-Ohio Athletic Conference accolades. Majoring in sociology and political science, Hradisky held a 3.91 grade point average.

"I am here first and foremost to get an education," said Hradisky on receiving such honors. "I love running, and running is why I picked BW, but I do understand that there is a purpose for being here. There is no reason why my personality should be different in either setting, [on the track or in the classroom]. I feel that your personality should shine through in everything you do, if it is your true personality. If I am going to give my highest quality of effort to track, then there is no reason that I should cut myself short in academics. If I want to push myself, then I should push myself in everything that I do."

Hradisky also believes that being both a student and an athlete helps her perform at a higher level in both extremely diverse disciplines.

"They go hand-in-hand," said Hradisky. "Having track, being competitive and pushing yourself everyday makes you have that same stamina in the classroom. Busy people get more things done. I like being busy and active. I see them as correlated. It is an honor to be apart of both and to have the opportunity to represent the school in two ways. It should not be taken lightly, because everyone has a responsibility to the school. Everyone is a student, but athletes have a responsibility to the athletic department, too."

Hradisky also mentioned how being in-season the entire academic year, she does not know what it is like to have free time after class.

"Always being in-season, means always being time efficient," said Hradisky. "Sometimes I am so focused on school that I need to go to practice and let that go. Running is my stress reliever."

Outside of being an excellent student and athlete, Hradisky also likes to get herself involved in various on-campus activities, which has helped her develop her leadership skills. As a freshman, she was inducted into the Alpha Lambda Honor Society, and as a sophomore, she was inducted into the Chi Sigma Alpha Honor Society.

"It means a lot to be inducted into those honor societies, similar to winning a race or gaining All-Conference or All-Ohio honors," said Hradisky. "I consider them equal of importance."

Hradisky is also a member of the Student-Athlete Advisory Committee (SAAC) and has served as the organization's Social Chair. This year, she will be taking on a new challenge when she takes over as President of the organization.

"I have grown," said Hradisky about what she has learned from being a member and serving as the Social Chair of SAAC. "Never in my life have I been able to get 150 people in a room, fed and laughing. It has helped me realize why BW is important, why sports are important and what is to come from all of these relationships. We all came from the same place and care about the same things. It has taught me a lot about why I am here."

But in this upcoming academic school year, Hradisky wants to take the organization to new heights.

"I really realize that my goal for SAAC is to bring all the teams together," said Hradisky on becoming the new President. "I want all the athletes at BW to see BW as their team and not track or football, because when it comes down to it, we are all rivals with Mount Union and John Carroll. We all want to win. We all want conference. All of our goals are the same, and we can support each other, inside and outside of sports. I think that our athlete community is very tight, but my goal is to bolster that, to continue it. I just feel that BW is the team, the team is not your sport."

Just like Hradisky has high expectations to make the SAAC an even better organization at Baldwin Wallace, so too does she have high expectations for both the cross country and track teams.

"I want everyone on the team to say that they ran this year better than last year, whether that is going to take different training or different motivation," said Hradisky. "In track, I do not see why the men's and the women's sides will not win conference this year. This year we have a very strong sophomore class. My class has a lot of strength both on the men's side and the women's side, too. We have a lot of strength, especially in the older classes right now."

Although Hradisky might have great expectations for her teammates and team as a whole, she has even higher expectations for herself and for the seniors on her team.

"There are only three of us now on the cross country team that are seniors," said Hradisky. "We are the leaders, and we need to step up."

"She has developed into one of the best leaders that we have ever had here at Baldwin Wallace and that makes her a little bit different," said Taraschke about Hradisky's desire to lead the team and what sets her apart from the other athletes he has coached.

Entering her senior season, Hradisky wants to make the most out of her experience at BW and is sad to have to leave.

"I do not want to leave," said Hradisky. "It is terrifying thinking about leaving. I could not have picked a better school. I feel I have had an extremely special experience. Randomly when I have been running this summer, thinking about how this is my last year, I will tear up. It is sad, but at the same time, it is exciting. All good things must come to an end. It has just been a great experience, and I would not trade that for anything. I am not sure if everybody's collegiate career has had as many opportunities as I have had, and it is a blessing."

Although Hradisky has competed for only three years at the Division III level and is sad to have to leave after graduation next spring, Coach Taraschke has been coaching Division III student-athletes for nearly 30 years. It is hard-working and committed individuals like Hradisky that have kept Taraschke coaching at this level for such a long time.

"When you are working with Division III athletes, they do not feel a sense of entitlement like the Division I athletes do, and so they want to get better," said Taraschke. "A lot of them have talent that just has not been developed. They are just a very disciplined, hard-working group of people who are fun to be around."

Although it is the student-athletes, like Hradisky, that have kept Taraschke at BW for such a long time, Hradisky has plans and dreams of her own about what she would like to do with her life after graduation.

"I am going to grad school," said Hradisky. "I want to get my Ph.D. I would love to be a professor and come back to the school setting. I would love to teach at BW down the line, because it is the only place that I have ever known."

But Hradisky still does not know what she will be able to replace with all the activities that she has gotten herself involved in at BW.

"I do not know what I am going to do without school and sports," said Hradisky. "It is going to be a whole different world over there. I do not know what is going to make up for track. I have always wanted to do the triathlon or the half marathon. I think about some other things I would like to try, like kickboxing. There are other opportunities."

Hradisky has learned a lot about herself during her collegiate career thus far and has found a balance that has helped her succeed in various disciplines. She will look to lead the Brown and Gold in every aspect of her involvement this year and will look to make the University proud.

"I am here, and I want to make BW known," said Hradisky with all of the great talents and characteristics that she possesses in everything that she is involved in at BW.

During her final year at the University, look for Hradisky to do something special for Baldwin Wallace University in all aspects of her involvement.

The Yellow Jackets open the season on August 30 when they compete at the annual season-opening meet at The College of Wooster. The 2013 OAC Championship Meet is on November 2.

FOR MORE BW SPORTS INFORMATION, please contact Sports Information Director Kevin Ruple by telephone at 440-826-2327 and e-mail at kruple@bw.edu and/or Assistant SID Jeff Miller by phone at 440-826-2780 and e-mail at jefmille@bw.edu. Fans can access the latest BW athletics information at www.BWyellowjackets.com and we invite you to join us on Twitter at http://twitter.com/bwathletics.