Q&A: Athena Award Winner Talks Quidditch, M&Ms and Mentoring

senior Alanna Stangl is the recent recipient of the school's 2011-12 Athena Award for outstanding female athletes. Stangl is a three-sport athlete, and is a captain of the track, girls hockey and cross country teams. She has earned 13 letters and been to state-level competitions six times.

Eagan Patch: Let start with your reaction to the Athena award; what does it mean to you, and were you surprised to receive it?

Alanna Stangl: First of all, I got taken out of my art class by [Eagan High School Athletic Director Sandy] Setter, and I usually don’t see her, so I was like 'Hmmmm…questionable.' All of my three coaches were standing in the hallway, and they thought it would be kind of funny to act like I was in trouble, rather than receiving an award, so they were like talking and building up to it, and then finally they told me that I won. I was super excited and gave all my coaches hugs. They let me go tell my Dad, because he works in the middle school, and he was super happy too. He was the one that got me into sports and stuff. I was very honored, because I knew the other people nominated were amazing athletes as well.

Patch: Tell me about your sports background, you mentioned your dad was the one responsible for getting you into a lot of athletics and getting you interested. How young were you when you first started playing sports and what really drove you as an individual to get involved?

Stangl: I guess I’ll start with hockey, because that was the first sport I started to play in. my dad would always make a rink in the backyard and get me going. And then he would get me in the arenas in Inver Grove Heights. He would place little M&Ms around the rinks and then tell me to go find them, and that's how I learned to skate. For running, in elementary school I would always have to do the Phy Ed timed things, and I wasn’t half bad, and my dad signed me up for track and cross country. Cross country is my favorite sport by far because the team aspect is very present there and it’s really fun. Those are the three sports my dad did, coincidentally [laughing].

Patch: Advice for up-and-coming athletes: What would you tell younger students coming up to help them achieve the level of success you’ve reached?

Stangl: Look for someone to look up to on the team. When I was younger, I always looked to an older person on the team and kind of set a goal to be like her when I’m a senior. I know sometimes practices suck and things don’t seem fun anymore, but try to always remind yourself why you’re in it, and make a lot of friends along the way, because that makes those hard games a lot better.

Patch: Last question: What are your future plans? Are you pursuing athletics on a college level?

Stangl: I had some offers from Division III schools, but I really wanted to go to the University of Minnesota to go to the Carlson School to do business. So that’s where I‘m going ot end up. The U has a lot of great running clubs and intramural sports that I’ll definitely try out for. And they have a quidditch team, so I’ll definitely try to get involved in that, too [laughing].

Be sure to follow Eagan Patch on Twitter, "Like" us on Facebook, and sign up for our newsletters, which send you updates about stories, breaking news, announcements, events and blogs on our site.