Veronica Znajda
School you attend and grade? Prospect High School. I am a senior.
What sport do you play? How long have you been playing? I have been running on the cross country and track teams since sixth grade, so this is my seventh year.
What inspired you to get started with your chosen sport? My dad, who was a track athlete in high school, encouraged me to sign up in sixth grade. I signed up just to get involved with something, and I stuck with it ever since.
What event do you participate in cross country and track? For track events, I run longer distance races, which includes everything from the 400 m to the 3200 m.
What do you enjoy most when playing your favorite sport? I enjoy laughing and having fun with my teammates the most. We know each other better than anyone because of all the time we’ve spent together at practice, so we have so much fun together. We all help each other through when our sport gets difficult.
What is your proudest moment? Who do you have to thank for helping you get there? My proudest moment is winning cross country state as a team in 2022. It was so incredible to see all of our hard work pay off as a team. I am so grateful for my teammates for being the amazing family they are, my coaches for training me to achieve more than I ever thought I could, and my parents for supporting me and believing in me.
Who is someone you admire? I admire my former teammate Audrey Ginsberg, who is now in college. When I was a freshman, she was a senior in high school, and she was the first person I knew to continue running in college. She inspires me because of all she has accomplished athletically and academically while being a sweet, funny, kind person.
What advice do you have for others looking to get into running? My advice would be to find the fun. If you can find your passion for the sport and people who you love to do it with, putting in the work and improving will be that much easier.
Beyond running, what do you like to do? I love watching movies and having picnics with my friends, as well as playing instruments like piano, reading, and walking my dog.
If you were to continue practicing your sport, what do you hope to become or accomplish someday? I will continue my sports at the College of William & Mary, so I hope to find success at the collegiate level, as well as a wonderful new team. I hope to continue running for my whole life to stay fit and healthy and to keep having fun. Running a marathon one day would be awesome too!