FIELD TWP- When North Woods School graduation comes around this year, it will bring an end to an unusual and lucky run of having three top-level long distance running siblings representing the school at cross-country meets.
Addison, Alex, and Zoey Burckhardt have been top performers for the South Ridge Panthers team the past few years, but Addison and Alex will put on their caps and gowns on May 30 and walk away from their high school careers forever.
But while Alex is foregoing collegiate running to focus on his studies, Addison is going to give the academics/athletics balancing act the good old college try, signing a letter of intent on April 9 committing to run cross country and track for the St. Mary’s University Cardinals next year.
Addison is looking to St. Mary’s and Coach Darren Schneider to push her running to a higher level.
“You still have a team, but I can really push myself as an individual, and I really like that,” Addison said. “I hope I improve a lot there by running year-round.”
This was a match made not in heaven, but in cyberspace. Following the trend of college recruiting in the digital age, Addison created an athlete profile on the NCSA College Recruiting platform, where athletes from smaller schools often get noticed by schools that might not have otherwise known about them.
“Colleges all over the country were contacting her,” said Stephanie Burckhardt, Addison’s mom. “It really opened doors to anywhere she wanted to go, and she did get a lot of recruiting visits in the Midwest, about 13. The last one we went to was St. Mary’s, and it just felt right, It was the perfect fit.”
And Addison clicked with Schneider, the team, and the environs.
“He took me everywhere, to all the trails and everything,” she said. “He’s been reaching out to me since then, keeping in contact. I think he’ll be a really good coach. And I just really like the campus, and I met the whole team. They were super nice.”
While Addison has been a multi-sport athlete at North Woods, cross country has always been her passion. She started running with Stephanie when she was seven or eight, and by the time she was a freshman she was good enough to win the 7A sectional meet and go to state, and retuned to state as a junior. Stephanie credits Addison’s coaches for fostering her development.
“We were so blessed to have Dan Squires and Jeremy Polson,” she said. “Jeremy ran in college, and he’s been such a good inspiration for Addie. I think that’s what really solidified her decision to run in college.”
Addison’s going to get an early taste of what it’s like to balance collegiate running and studies this summer. In the past she’s taken summers off from running, but this year she has a full training regimen to get ready for the fall season. And at the same time, she’ll be pursuing a certified nurse assistant certificate, hours of study that will benefit her in the accelerated physician assistant major she plans to study at St. Mary’s.
Addison’s father, Eric, admitted that it will feel a bit different this next fall having just Zoey to keep track of at high school meets, but the Burckhardts plan to attend as many of Addison’s meets as they can. He’s glad that Addison will be continuing to run, in part because cross country has been such a positive experience.
“At least we’ve got Zoey for a couple more years,” he said. “It’s a very positive sport. Everybody there seems to really cheer on all the members of the team and even the kids who may be coming in last. It’s just a great positive environment.”