3-sport athlete ready to jump to next adventure

Kati Eggert (’11) is an art major receiving her secondary education certification from the College of St. Elizabeth. After graduation, she hopes to teach middle school or high school students for a few years, but her real goal is to be a high school athletic director and coach. The Acorn sat down with Eggert to talk about Drew, sports and her dream of bungee jumping.

Acorn: What sports do you play? What positions?

Eggert: At Drew I play field hockey, swimming and softball. In field hockey I play midfield or attack.  For swimming I mostly swim the 50 and 100 freestyle, the 100 butterfly, and occasionally the 100 breaststroke or 200 freestyle or individual medley.  In softball I play shortstop and center field.

Acorn: Would you like to have a future in sports?

Eggert: I’d definitely like to coach when I’m older.  I’m not sure for what age or exactly what sport, but I’m sure I’ll end up coaching at least one of them. I’d get to meet so many people and I’d still be very involved with athletics. It’d be a pretty sweet deal.

Acorn: Do you have a favorite among them?

Eggert: Each season has its perks.  My favorite sport is field hockey, partly because it’s the newest to me.  My favorite season is softball because I love the spring and my team.  Swimming is probably my best sport. It keeps me in awesome shape and it comes the most natural to me since I’ve been doing it so long.

Acorn: When did you start playing each respective sport?

Eggert: I began swimming the earliest and first competed around age five.  I started softball in elementary school.  I didn’t start field hockey until I was a sophomore in high school. My town didn’t really have it until then, and I missed out on my freshman year because of surgery on my leg.

Acorn: Is it hard to juggle three varsity sports and taking classes at St E’s?

Eggert: Yes and no. I’m probably busier than most people, but I find a way to make it work.  It’s hard because I miss out on my swimming and softball pre-season while I’m in the previous season’s sport, but I find a way to catch up.  As for classes, it’s all about time management.  Some nights I don’t get as much sleep as I’d like to, or as much as I need, but honestly I think we’re all in that boat.  As for classes at the College of St. Elizabeth- well, it’s just another class down the road.

Acorn: What is your favorite thing about playing sports?

Eggert: I am a very competitive person and I like to challenge myself.  I am very goal-oriented. The varsity sports let me both compete against others and challenge myself to reach my personal and team goals.  Plus, I stay healthy and in shape.

Acorn: What do you think about when you need to motivate yourself?

Eggert: My mindset is totally different for each sport.  For field hockey it’s my newest sport and I’m always so excited to learn new tricks in the sport.  I love that it’s so team-oriented and you’re constantly running.  When it’s hard to find that inner drive, I see my teammates working hard and it pushes me to work hard for them.  This is the same in softball.  My team always has my back.  If a mistake is made or I strike out, my teammates are there to make the next play or to hit a homerun.  Swimming is a little different.  It’s a more individual sport.  I always get nervous and I feel a lot of pressure, but I push myself to beat the clock.  I practice against the clock and I compete against the clock. It’s a sport [in which] every little detail results in your time, so it really requires 100% of every muscle and of every bit of my energy.

Acorn: How do you workout in the off season?

Eggert: Field hockey requires training all summer.  It’s hard to have a full-time job over the summer and still find the energy to work out and run and play hockey, but it’s doable.  I mostly run around my lake and my town and time my miles and sprints.  I write my sprints and times down and try to improve every time.  I’m in shape for swimming through field hockey and I’m fit for softball through my swimming.  It’s an endless cycle.

Acorn: Do you think you’ll continue playing on a sports team once you graduate?

Eggert: I would definitely like to play on some kind of club field hockey team.  I’ll probably swim once in a while, but there isn’t too much competitive swimming out there once you’re out of college.  As for softball, I’ll probably continue to play softball in the summer on my lake team.

Acorn: Something absurd–go.

Eggert: I actually have a bucket list... I want to do so many things in my life, and bungee jumping is next… Who’s with me!

Acorn: You’re also on SAAC. Why do you think that it’s important to have a Student Athlete council?

Eggert: The Student Athlete Advisory Committee is a group of about 25 student athletes who get together at least once a week to organize campus events and co-sponsor events with other organizations on campus.  I’m in this group because it’s important to show that the athletes do other things outside of their sport.  We’ve done things such as the Ranger Run and we always fundraise for a specific cause, this year for 24 year-old Kyle Noonan, a male from Morristown fighting Leukemia.  We try to bridge the gap between athletes and non-athletes and to also bring Drew and Madison’s community together.

Acorn: What is the funniest thing that’s ever happened during a game or during practice?