Week 17: Christina Casali

Home state: Michigan
Status: Senior
Year on club: 4
Colleges: College of Education and College of Engineering
Double major in Kinesiology and Material Sciences Engineering, with a concentration in biomedical engineering 

Christina is the 2015-16 Vice President of Administration. Last year, she was the travel coordinator for the club. Aside from participating and leading in running club, Christina enjoys swimming, biking, eating, reading, watching hockey, doing puzzles, playing euchre, and playing board games. We got a chance to talk to Christina about her time on the club. Check out the interview below for her responses! If you want to learn more about Christina, feel free to visit her blurb on the "Officer" page of this website under "Members."

​Running Club: "So, you’ve been on running club all four years?"
Christina Casali: "Yep!"
RC: "And then for officers, you’ve done that twice?"
CC: "Yep."
RC: "And how does an officer—being a leader of the team—affect the social aspect of running? Does it inhibit you at all from being more of a social runner? Or, are you a social runner?"
CC: "I run for both the social and competitive aspects of it. But being an officer is definitely…I feel like less of a member, sort of. Is that really bad? I feel like less of a member and more like I have a responsibility. Like when we’re at meets, I don’t just relax and focus on myself. I try and make sure that the girls know when they’re racing, and that everyone has their spikes, and those kinds of things."
RC: "So because you went from being a member to an officer, do you still have as much fun with the club?"
CC: "It’s a different kind of fun. We’re more in the know of things, and it’s fun to get to give back to the club and organize it, and make friends with all of the officers, and definitely get to go to everything, and know about everything in advance. But at the same time, sometimes I miss being a member and just not having any responsibilities and just going along with it."
RC: "Do you like cross country or track better?"
CC: "Track."
RC: "What are your events?"
CC: "I like the 1500 (meter run) and the 4 by 8 (meter relay)."
RC: "Have you ever won anything of note?"
CC: "Our girls won the 4x800 National Championship last year, which was awesome."
RC: "Okay, and that was a team of you…"
CC: "Erin Zimmer, Nicole Mosteller, and Val Morel. And Val is gone, but Tarah is back."
RC: "Okay, so you think that for the spring probably you, Erin, Nicole, and then Tarah?"
CC: "I don’t know. I think we have a lot of incoming girls that are good at the 800. Like [Lauren] McGrath runs a 2:20 and Erin [Zimmer] is on another level this year, so I’m sure she’ll be fast. But that’s definitely one of my goals: to be on that team still. But I think we could still win it without all of our top 800 runners on it.
RC: "And then, for next year because you’re not graduating, are you going to still be a part of the team?"
CC: "Yes, of course."
RC: "Back as a member?"
CC: "Vice President emeritus."
RC: "What?"
CC: "You know how the Pope is…Pope Benedict is the one who is not the current pope, he’s like the pope emeritus."
RC: "Oh, okay. Yeah, I’ve never heard of anyone using that."
CC: "Really? I think it means that he’s not the pope but he’s still alive. So like, I’m not the vice president, but I’m still on the club. That’s kind of a bad way to describe it."
RC: "Okay, but you aren’t going to run for another position or anything?"
CC: "No."
RC: "Are you looking forward to that? I mean, you said that you kind of miss the aspect of just being a member."
CC: "Yeah, I’m definitely looking forward to just kind of focusing on being a member and not having the extra responsibility of making sure everyone has all of their ducks in a row."
RC: "And then when you first joined running club, what were you looking for?"
CC: "I was looking to still compete, or find a way to still run and compete after high school. So when I was actually looking at colleges, I was either looking for a place that I could walk on to like a D3 program or I found out on Purdue’s website that they had a running club, so that’s how I found out about it. And then I kind of made sure that all of the other schools I applied to had a running club. I knew that would be my group of friends and the people I would get along with."
RC: "Was that how it was in high school?"
CC: "Yeah. It would just be like having teammates and really fun. And we just have so much in common, staying in shape and all of that."
RC: "And then what is your favorite aspect of running, in general?"
CC: "I like hanging out with my friends. So that’s like a dual purpose: you get to work out but you also get to see your friends. It’s like your free time."
RC: "And then what about your least favorite?"
CC: "Sometimes it’s just not fun."

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