2016-2017 The Opinion-Tribune’s Female Athletes of the Year
Janette Schraft’s high school varsity resume includes eight varsity letters, eight state track meet medals – including a quartet of gold medals – and a top 11 finish at the state track meet.
And she’s just a sophomore.
The East Mills star began her sophomore campaign with an 11th place finish at the Iowa State Cross Country Meet for a fledgling Wolverine program and then capped her second varsity track season this spring with a historic gold medal sweep of the 800-meters, 1,500-meters and 3,000-meters at the Iowa State Track Meet. Oh, and a key reserve role on the Wolverine basketball team and a starting outfielder spot on the softball team came in between.
Schraft is The Opinion-Tribune’s 2016-2017 Female Athlete of the Year.
Drive.
That’s the word Chris Irvin, East Mills cross country and assistant track coach, used to describe Schraft. He first met Schraft as a fifth grader and almost immediately the coach could see a determined athlete with the drive to compete.
“It was pretty obvious she was the type that once she decided to do something, she sets goals and she’s going to find a way to get there,” Irvin said. “I think a lot of it is just her. I know she has a great support system at home and they support her goals. And I think she’s fortunate to have a good group around her that support her in attaining the goals she sets out for.”
Irvin freely admits, he saw in Schraft, at even a young age, the potential to be a “state track meet” level runner.
“In junior high I saw a girl with talent and a good head on her shoulders,” Irvin said. “I knew if she stayed focused she could go pretty far.”
Schraft herself credits that drive for success – in running and in the classroom where she has a 3.9 GPA – if only because she’s not sure there’s another word to best describe her will to always do and get better.
“I’ve always strived to do things for myself,” she said. “I enjoy doing things for other people as well and making people happy and represent my community. But a lot of it comes from me wanting to prove to myself what I’m capable of. It’s one thing to be able to go out there and win a few races, its another to be able to go out there and top what you’ve done. There’s no point in doing something if you’re not going to get better.”
Running has always been a part of who Schraft is. She started in track during elementary school but didn’t feel the pull to run competitively until middle school. That need to compete and the pressure of the competition coalesced her freshmen year when a light to win flickered on.
“It developed over time, it took losses and learning and a lot of trial and error. It developed over time,” she said. “Even just mentally preparing to race I’ve grown and I’m smarter. When they used to fire off that (starter) gun I used to panic and take off and burn myself out. I’ve learned how to pace myself and run the smart race.”
The smart money wasn’t on Schraft her freshman season and she’s OK with that. She was an unknown commodity entering the state meet that hadn’t seen the state’s best in this corner of the state. But when the freshman stunned the Class 1A field by winning the 3,000-meters and then snagged three more medals for the Wolverines, she knew she was no longer the underdog.
This past spring, Schraft went from the hunter to the hunted at state. She shook off the bulls eye and the nerves and pulled off just the 14th “distance triple” sweep in girls state track by winning the 800-meters, 1500-meters and 3,000-meters. She also added to her haul with a third place medal in the distance medley relay along with teammates Madison Williams, Emmy Duysen and Zena Courtier. In all, Schraft had a hand in all 36 of the Wolverines’ fourth place finish at state this spring.
Schraft freely admits she likely wasn’t the favorite in any of the three individual events she won at state this season either, despite her freshman season success.
“I mean I surprised myself my freshman year too but my sophomore year, I went in feeling some pressure that some freshman would come out of nowhere and surprise everyone,” she said. “I went in just thinking I’d do my best.”
Schraft entered state feeling like the 3,000-meters would be her “easiest” event. Turns out she was completely wrong and that was OK too.
“It turned out to be the hardest race I’ve ever run,” she said. “That Thursday I saw how hard the competition was in that race and I’m not going to lie, I was definitely scared the rest of the weekend. But I figured if I did as well in the other races as I did in the 3,000, I’d be fine.”
She did more than fine.
Schraft went on to sweep the gold in the 800 and 1,500 and anchor the Wolverines’ to a third place showing – and school record time – in the distance medley relay.
Looking back, Schraft said that uneasy mix of doubt, fear and exhaustion she felt before, during and after the 3,000 was the exact motivation she needed.
“I always think that if you’re not nervous before a race, there’s something wrong,” she said. “If you’re confident and feel like you have it in the bag, there’s definitely something wrong. So you can take that nervousness and transform it into adrenaline. I always have butterflies before I race. But when I’m running on the track, it’s all adrenaline.”
Irvin, Schraft’s coach, said the sophomore is a good athlete whose talents can take her as far she wants on and off the track, field and court. He calls her a great athlete that never lets that stand in the way of her being a great person.
“That thing that she has where if she puts her mind to it, she’s going to do it, that’s in everything she does,” Irvin said. “If she decides she wants to go out for basketball or be a softball player, whatever she puts her mind to, she doesn’t just want to be a part of it. She wants to be successful at it and help that program or that team be the best it can be.”
Schraft enjoys basketball, where she was a key reserve for the Wolverines, and softball, where she hit .308 with 14 stolen bases this season, but running, track and cross country, feel like home.
“Track feels like it’s my strong suit but the other sports, I did almost as a social thing,” she said. “I wanted to help the team if I could. If I’m going to go out for a sport, I’m going to do my best to help the team.”
Last fall was the first for the Wolverines competing in cross country. Schraft was integral in convincing the school district to add the fall sport, often cajoling and convincing sometime reluctant classmates to come out. While the numbers were low and placing sparse, Schraft is determined to make cross country a lasting sport at East Mills.
“I’m always going around school telling people to go out for cross country,” she said. “Sometimes I’ll drag them to the office and show them the sign up sheet. And I get them to sign up. We’ve had a lot more kids come out. If we can keep them coming out we can build a family atmosphere. It’s definitely something that can grow. It’s not easy to convince anyone to come out and run three miles for the fun of it.”
When pressured Schraft can’t choose which of her chosen running sports she prefers: track or cross country?
“There’s times where I say I hate cross country and there’s time I say I hate track,” she said. “They’re about even. I love them both. But I have a bittersweet taste in my mouth for cross country right now because of last season. It’s definitely a fun sport and I love it but I still know I could have done better.”
Schraft, who placed a disappointing 11th at state cross country last year, lightened her running load this summer after not taking a break between spring track, attempting to qualify for junior Olympics over the summer and into cross country season last fall. She felt like she burned herself out last year and cross country suffered. She doesn’t plan to let that happen again.
“I still run just not with as much intensity,” Schraft said. “I’ll pick it up as cross county season gets closer. I know I’ll do better this year.”
As she said, “There’s no point in doing something if you’re not going to get better.”