By MIKE KEMMETER
of The Gazette
After receiving all-conference accolades numerous times at Rosholt High School, runner Jen Zdroik is being noticed for her accomplishments off of the cross country course and track.
Zdroik, a senior at the school, is one of 32 recipients in the state for the Wisconsin Interscholastic Athletic Association Scholar Athlete Award. Four boys and four girls were honored in Division 3 from 163 nominations.
"I was very happy. I was extremely happy," Zdroik said. "All the years of doing things paid off and people recognized it."
"Jen is a wonderful selection for this honor," Rosholt principal Paul Luce said. "She exemplifies all the qualities that make both a fine athlete and also high academic achievement. We're all very proud of her."
Zdroik said that Linda Trzebiatowski, the school's athletic director, told her about the award four years ago. "As a freshman she mentioned that it could be a goal," Zdroik said.
From then on, Zdroik ran both cross country and track for four years and played basketball in her freshman, sophomore and junior years. She plans to continue running next year at Carthage College in Kenosha, where she will have an exercise/sports science major with sports management.
Her involvement outside of athletics consists of five organizations. She is the president of the student council (she was the vice president as a junior) and is the vice president of the National Honor Society while also being involved in forensics for two years, Students Against Drunk Driving for four years and the "R Club," which is a school group that handles selling concessions at events.
"I really don't know why I got involved in so many things," Zdroik said. "I thought it was fun. People encouraged me to do it. It was up to me and I did it."
Mike Trzebiatowski, who coaches the cross country and track teams at Rosholt with assistance from his brother Eugene, said it's not easy being a leader like Zdroik.
"Sometimes it turns the other kids off. They don't want to be a leader. They want to do other things," he said.
"She's mature. When you do too well in the test, people say 'What are you doing that for?' She's grown beyond that.
"She knows it's correct. It's plain and simple. She's learned someplace along the road that that's the way you should be."
Not only is Zdroik a leader for the cross country teams, but she is near the end of a successful career. She made the All-Central Wisconsin Conference team, ran at state and was named her team's MVP all four years in cross country. She was also the team captain in her junior and senior seasons.
In track, she's made the all-conference team three times and has been to the state meet twice. She's been the team's captain for the last three years and was named the team MVP as a sophomore.
Zdroik said she owes a lot to both Mike and Eugene Trzebiatowski. "I think that my coaches were a big influence on keeping me going and goal orientated so I could reach my goals," she said.
The Trzebiatowski's also appreciate her leadership to younger runners. "There's some young kids that look up to her," Mike said. "The younger kids kind of say, 'That's how we should be.' "
Zdroik said she leads by example. "I think I set a good example. I'm not the one to bow to peer pressure. I stick up for what I believe in," she said.
"I bring in the underclassmen and let them know they can do well. I tell them not to be intimidated by the upperclassmen and hopefully they can have a good experience and be involved."
Zdroik qualified for the award since she earned at least four varsity letters through the first half of her senior year and had a cumulative grade point average of 3.9. Candidates are chosen based on academic excellence, athletic participation, co-curricular activities, essay responses, and civic and community involvement.
She is the second recipient in school history and the second local athlete to win in as many years. Rosholt's Julie Trzebiatowski received the award in 1994 and Melissa Schweitzer of Amherst received the award last year.
"She exemplified what the scholar athlete is all about," Mike said. "She has some ability but she's not like a God-given athlete. She understands the work ethic behind it and then does it."