Rothbauer ends collegiate cross country career for UW-River Falls
Colfax graduate Amanda Rothbauer completed four years of competition for the University of River Falls cross country team and was a big reason the Falcons had their best finish ever in the Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference meet this year, placing in a tie for third.
Amanda was the fourth runner in for the team in the 6K race, running an all time personal best time of 23:12 for 25th place overall. She ended her cross country running days at the NCAA Midwest Regional meet in Augustana, IL as the third Falcon runner to cross the finish line in 57th place at 23:18 as her team finished tenth. She competed in all of the meets for the team this year including the Blugold Invite hosted by UW-Eau Claire on familiar grounds, the Whitetail Golf Course in Colfax, finishing third for the team at 23:54. Amanda was named team captain this year and leaves the program 12th on the all time 6K list for the school.
Amanda was recruited by head coach Scott Sekelsky, (known as Skelly to his team) who coached her all four years. Having only run one year for Colfax, she had no intentions of running cross country at the collegiate level.
“Although Amanda hadn’t planned on running for us, she will tell you she is glad she did, as am I,” Sekelsky said. “ She is a tremendous example of what a student-athlete should be. She made our regional team all four seasons and as our captain, was a great team leader and teammate.She was a big part in our great finish at the conference meet, not only by how she ran the race in her fastest time ever as a Falcon, but in leading her team to a common goal. She will be greatly missed,” he added.
Amanda will move into the indoor track season shortly but will remember her cross country days fondly.
“I would have liked to have run a personal best at the regional meet but I was six seconds off,” she said. “But it was a great way to go out, running my best time at conference. I intended to just run track for River Falls but Skelly heard I had done some distance running and convinced me I could stay in shape for track by running cross country. I improved on my times from freshman year to this year and I really learned to be a leader by being named captain. I also had to learn time management because competing in a sport at the college level keeps you busy. And I have made lifetime friends, not only with my teammates but against kids I competed against. It was all a great experience,” she concluded.