Nick Schneigert
Episode 247
23 OCT 2023
The Head Track & Field and Cross Country Coach at the University of Dallas, which is a Catholic institution. Prior to his current position he had spent a year-and-a-half working as the Program and Events Manager with Chicago Area Runners Association. He has a wealth of coaching experience that includes collegiate, high school, youth club, and adult levels for cross country and track and field. Overall, he has coached 25 USTFCCCA All-Americans, nine NJCAA All-Americans, and two Northern Athletics Conference All-Conference athletes. A Military Veteran with high honors, as an athlete he competed for the All-Navy track and field team. Plus, while he was not on duty, he competed as a sprinter/mid-distance athlete, at various NCAA college meets and open meets. He has competed in over 100 road races including nine marathons and one ultramarathon.
Notable guest quotes:
“Two weeks before (my father) escaped communist Poland he was sent to jail. It was basically, he expressed his beliefs about the communist regime… So, they locked him up for a week… Once he was released… he defected… and he was in a refugee camp in Italy for about one year.”
“It was a very, very blue collar Polish American… household really and I grew up in that Polish Catholic environment… The Polish Catholic culture was very deep and very relevant in our household. Every Polish immigrant house you walked into, you saw a shrine of Pope John Paul II.”
“I transferred to the local Catholic elementary school – St. John the Evangelist – where my wife and I eventually got married later on… I enjoyed my time there from fourth to eighth grade.”
“I went to St. Edward High School – another Catholic high school – in Elgin, Illinois.”
“I was confirmed in the military… I talked to Father… and I was confirmed in Seattle at a local Catholic church there, but all the classes and all that stuff was taken onboard the USS Kittyhawk where I was stationed… And eventually I became a Eucharistic Minister.”
“We here at the University of Dallas, it is a very religious university. We have a seminary located on campus. We have an abbey located across the freeway from us… which we helped found.”
“After our track meets, we do pray as a team and then for cross country we definitely pray before and after our races.”
“When I recruit, my priority is going to be Catholic high schools.”
“I’m trying to do 50 marathons in 50 states, and I do plan to do a marathon in December, hopefully either in Mississippi or Kansas.”
“It’s family, my student-athletes, and my school, they will always be first before me.”
Related link:
Nick’s bio on University of Dallas athletics website
Trailer for documentary Nick referred to
