April 22, 2008

Bobcat Profile: Andrea Maas

Track and Field Senior

by April Prior, Ohio media relations

To most college students 5:30 a.m. is a time that only exists when they have last minute cramming before finals.  For senior Andrea Maas, 5:30 a.m. is a familiar time when she wakes up to begin her day with a morning run.  Finishing her run as the sun rises and heading to bed as the Court Street lights illuminate the night, Maas lives a life unlike most of her classmates.

As a distance runner for Ohio's track and field team, Maas has spent the past five years arranging her schedule to fit in practices and conditioning, classes and student teaching, and still having time to enjoy everyday college activities.  As a senior early childhood education major, Maas is in the classroom for four hours in the morning followed by work and practice in the afternoon.  Studying and preparation for the next school day is left for the evenings. 

"Learning to be self-motivated and balancing everything is an important part of the equation for success," said Maas.

Kelly Siefker, the graduate assistant for the track and field team, said Maas' motivation is the key element to both her personal and the team's successes.

"[Andrea] is the epitome of what I encourage people to be as a runner, on and off the track." Graduate assistant coach Kelly Siefker

"She knows what she wants and sets very high standards for herself" said Siefker.  "The team itself has gotten a lot better because of her."

In her fifth season with the team Maas has become a leader for the tight group of girls.  She uses a positive attitude to keep all the unique personalities on the team unified under sometimes difficult or tough situations. Siefker said Mass is great team player and leader for the other girls.  Even while recovering from a stress fracture injury this season she is still helping other girls get better.

Maas explained she started running when she was younger simply because she "always liked running really fast."  After some encouragement from her father, who was also a runner, and the realization that her petite size made other sports difficult, Maas started running in third grade.  While back then she may have been a sprinter, over the years she has developed into one of Ohio's best long-distance runners.

"[She is] the epitome of what I encourage people to be as a runner, on and off the track," Siefker said.

A busy lifestyle will continue for Maas post-graduation as she plans on teaching and working toward earning a master's degree in literacy from the University of Cincinnati. When she looks beyond this final season with Ohio track and field, Maas says she hopes to continue running and possibly even competing in half marathons. 

Maas says she now knows all about the sacrifices and commitment, in addition to proper techniques and form, it takes to be a truly strong runner. Overall though, it is the balance and organization skills that she learned as a collegiate student-athlete that will make her a stronger person in the future.