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FEATURED ATHLETE OF THE WEEK: Seelye Stoffregen, Greencastle
Seelye Stoffregen is a senior at Greencastle who participates in basketball. She previously competed in cross country and track and field.
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Banner Graphic: How important are sports to you, and what have you learned from them?
Seelye Stoffregen: “With both of my parents being coaches — my mom [Stacie] was the track coach at the middle school for 20 years and my dad [Kori] is the track and cross country coach at DePauw — they always talked about trying your hardest at everything. No matter what I did, I have always tried to do my best. That has been a good support system from them. I have learned that you are going to have your ups and downs in sports, just like in life. It’s going to be a rollercoaster no matter what you’re doing. You have to work through it, and that’s life. You just have to keep pushing on.”
BG: What sports have you played besides basketball and the running sports?
SS: “I played soccer when I was younger. I did a travel team, and that was fun. I also tried out for volleyball a few times, and I did gymnastics.
BG: So what made you stay with basketball?
SS: “I like the team aspect of it. I do running, and it’s so individual. I like how it’s a group of players on the court working our butts off together. You’re winning with people you have grown together with for several months.”
BG: Basketball has been pretty successful during your career. Talk about that success, and how you think it will go this year?
SS: “We have been very successful in the past, and that’s because the girls I play with have worked our butts off. We might not be the best skill-wise, but we make up for it with our determination. It’s always been like that. Coach [Bradley] Key worked us hard, and our new coach [Tod Windlan] works us just as hard. The transition has been pretty easy. They are both similar in that aspect. I think we’re going to be really good this year and win a lot of games. We have a lot of new, skillful people and we have a deep bench. We are going to be a hard team to beat, and I hope we can win the county again, as well as the conference and sectional.”
BG: What’s the most embarrassing thing that has happened to you in sports?
SS: “Our practice uniforms are really old. At our Purdue camp this summer, the drawstring in my shorts kept breaking. It broke in the middle of a game and my shorts fell down. I had other shorts on underneath, but it was pretty funny.”
BG: What else do you do at school besides things involving sports:
SS: “I am the secretary of Key Club, I am in the National Honor Society, I am an office worker in the mornings and I serve on the Teen Court. I am the prosecutor or defense attorney. We don’t decide their guilt or not, but we decide how much community service they do. Mrs. [Linda] Merkel is in charge of it and she does a great job.”
BG: What do you like to do outside of school and sports?
SS: “I love my friend group. We have a group of about five or six girls, and we hang out every Monday. We call it “Diversity Club.” We either go to Starbucks or go out to eat. We just talk and hang out. We sometimes spend the night at one of our houses or go out to eat. They keep me sane with everything.”
BG: Is there any significance to your first name?
SS: “My dad had an athlete with that name, and they looked it up and found it means ‘blessed’ in German. We’re German, so they named me that.”
BG: What are your favorites in movies, TV and music?
SS: “My favorite movie is ‘How the Grinch Stole Christmas’ with Jim Carrey. It’s hilarious, and it’s amazing. I watch it all year around. It’s a thing my dad and I have. We will watch it every day during Christmas break. My dad and I like to quote lines from the movie, and my mom is just sick of it. We love it. I like Christmas time and the classic Christmas movies. In music, I like pop and rap music. I’m into Russ right now. I went to his concert this summer and I fell in love. My favorite TV show is ‘Riverdale’. It’s a teenage drama with a mystery spin to it. It’s a lot like the Archie comics.”
BG: What is something you have never done before that you would like to do someday?
SS: “Skydiving. I just want to be above the ground and see everything to be so small. I turned 18 over the summer and I wanted that for my birthday, but my mom said ‘no way’.”
BG: What is your biggest fear?
SS: “Losing someone close to me. I don’t really have fears like spiders or anything like that. I lost my great-grandmother when I was younger and that was pretty hard on me.”
BG: What are your favorite and least favorite foods?
SS: “My favorite is Mexican. I love queso and chips and chicken and rice. My least favorite would be most fish. I like crabs, but things that have that ‘fishy’ taste I don’t like.”
BG: Do you have any pets?
SS: “I have a dog named Harry. I have had him since I was six. He is blind, and he’s so cute. He’s my best friend. He’s a Pomeranian, sheltie and lhasa apso mix. He can get around really well in our house, until we move the furniture. He eventually figures it out. If we take him somewhere new, he freaks out. He became blind because he has diabetes. It’s tough to see him getting older and not being able to get around much. I hug him no matter what.”
BG: If your house was on fire, and all living things were already safe, what is one thing you would go back and get?
SS: “My baby blanket. It’s really sentimental. My grandmother made it for me. It’s small and I don’t really use it to sleep with, I just like having it around. It was my comfort toy when I was younger. It reminds me of my childhood.”
BG: If you were to describe your personality in one word, what would that word be and why?
SS: “Determined. It doesn’t matter what it is, sports or academics, if I set my mind to something I am going to do everything I can to get what I want.”
BG: What has been your favorite place to visit?
SS: “Lake Isabel in Colorado. It’s the most beautiful place I’ve ever seen in my life. One day if I have kids, I want to name my daughter after it. There is a glacier in the background, and a lake in the middle of it.”
BG: How important is support from your family and classmates to your success?
SS: “It is very important. I don’t know where I would be without my parents and my best friend [Sydney Lewis]. Sydney and I have been friends since second grade, and she’s always been there through thick and thin.”
BG: Describe your overall school experience, both academically and athletically.
SS: “It’s been great. It’s been a good high school for me. I don’t like really big or really small high schools. It’s the perfect size. Our school spirit is amazing too. There are always people at the games supporting you. I went to vote [on Tuesday], and this lady I have never met told me she couldn’t wait to see me play this week. The support from the community is awesome.”
BG: What are your plans for after high school, and what career are you headed toward?
SS: “I am going to college, but I’m sure exactly where yet. I have applied to eight schools. I really like Butler. My dad wants me to go to DePauw and run for him. I haven’t decided. I want to get out of Greencastle, but stay close to home. I have a 3.94 GPA, and that puts me eighth in our class. I’m pretty proud of that. I will be doing an internship at the hospital this spring in the surgery department, and I’m really excited about that. I’m going to major in pre-med, but I’m not sure what kind of doctor I want to be. Hopefully that can help me to figure out exactly what I want to do. I just love helping people, and I want to do something where I can do that.”
BG: Is it difficult to keep up with your school work being an athlete?
SS: “I’m pretty good at balancing my schoolwork. Sometimes I’m rushing in homework right before class, but our practices aren’t too long. I know if I have a test the next day, I’ll turn my phone off and just get my studying in.”
BG: Which particular classes and teachers have helped you the most in high school?
SS: “Mrs. [Laurie] Gobert in health careers at Area 30 has been really helpful to me, and Mr. [Donovan] Wheeler has taught me to be a much better writer.”
BG: Do you have any random special skills that people may not know about?
SS: “I can make bird noises, but it’s really high-pitched and my mom doesn’t let me do it in the house. I have never taken art classes, but I love to draw.”
BG: After college, do you have plans to live somewhere in the mountains or on the beach, or do you want to live around here?
SS: “I’m not sure where I’ll end up. It will depend on where I get a job. I would love to retire somewhere on a lake in Colorado.”
BG: Do you think high school has gone fast, and are you going to miss it?
SS: “It seems like yesterday that I was a freshman, and here I am a few months away from graduation. It’s kind of sad that high school has gone this fast, but I’m trying to cherish hanging out with my friends and enjoy practices and games.”