Student Athlete of the Week: Alena Kasanicky

In her three-plus years at Niwot High School, senior Alena Kasanicky has learned that whether she's running or golfing, achieving success in athletics requires both physical and mental strength.

While her primary sports don't share much in common from a physical standpoint, the mental side of each is fairly similar. Kasanicky knows that staying composed under pressure typically leads to strong results in golf, track and cross country.

"They're definitely really different sports, but golf and running both have a mental aspect, which kind of carries over in being calm and whatnot in competitions," Kasanicky said.

Kasanicky is currently navigating her senior cross country season as one of Niwot's most important contributors. Along with her goal of helping the Niwot girls secure their seventh straight state title and first at the Class 5A division, she hopes to stay healthy and break her personal-record time of 18 minutes, 28 seconds in the 5K.

"I think it's going well," Kasanicky said of her senior cross country season. "It's pretty early on still, but I'm looking forward to the rest of the season."

Through three meets, she has picked up some encouraging results, including an eighth-place finish at the RE-1J District Meet at Lyons High School on Sept. 4. Her time of 20:27.88 was the second-fastest among seniors.

"I had a stronger race plan than the previous meets, which was nice," Kasanicky said. "I kind of went out a little slower and then tried to build throughout the race, which worked out well."

Prior to Lyons, she took 31st in the Vista Nation XC 2-mile (13:11.00) and 17th in the Wyoming Cross Country Invitational (20:36.40), according to MileSplit.

Kasanicky enjoys running alongside Niwot's many other talented runners, including standout juniors Addison Ritzenhein and Anna Prok.

"Training with such a great team is awesome because they can push us," Kasanicky said. "We have some really talented people. They all work super hard. In races, it's really nice because you see a lot of familiar faces and teammates definitely help you out in races."

As a senior, Kasanicky hopes that Niwot runners across all four grade levels can also benefit from the Cougars' cohesiveness.

"I want everyone to feel included and be a part of the team regardless of how fast they are," Kasanicky said. "I want everyone to love running and enjoy it. I try to talk to the whole team and try to bring us closer together."

This past spring, Kasanicky was one of three Niwot golfers to compete at state, joining then-freshman Wendy Cheruiyot and then-senior Mina O'Dell. Niwot took seventh as a team in Class 4A with Kasanicky finishing tied for 23rd. The plan is for Kasanicky to split time between track and golf again this upcoming spring.

Although she doesn't know where just yet, Kasanicky would appreciate the opportunity to run in college.

"I love running, so it'd be great to continue doing that in college and hopefully find another team that I like as much as Niwot," Kasanicky said.