Kelsey Wilkins loved playing soccer since she was 6 years old, but after entering Point Park, she felt the injuries that piled up from the sport over the years had taken their toll. That caused her to take a break her freshman year, but after she settled into the rigors of college life, she returned to soccer, until she decided to go out for the cross country team.

“I was built to be a runner. My parents have been trying for years to get me to just run. I finally listened,” Wilkins said. 

Wilkins gave up soccer and became a budding star with the Point Park Cross Country team, where she has posted times that are on the verge of breaking the school’s all-time records.

“I’ve never run cross country before so anything I do this season, I’m going to think is good.  I’m surprising myself the most doing this,” Wilkins said. 

Wilkins grew up in Michigan near the Detroit area. Going into high school, her family moved to Beaver County to be closer to her dad’s job. She went to Center High School her freshman and sophomore years, which later merged with another school and became Central Valley High School (Beaver County). 

“I come from an athletics-based family. My sister ran cross country, my brother traveled for hockey, and both my parents ran up through college,” Wilkins said. 

Her family has always been her coaches in whatever sport she chose. Her senior year, Wilkins decided to come to Point Park to pursue a career in writing.

“I came into Point Park because of a high school friend recommending it to me. I knew that I wanted to be a writer, I just didn’t know what kind,” Wilkins said. 

She also wanted to pursue an acting major, which she did her sophomore year, and she now has a double major of screen writing and acting. 

While here, she decided to get back into her love of soccer. She soon realized that she did not want to continue with it anymore and decided to try cross country. 

“I am surprised [by] how much I love it. I had always hated to run distance in track, so it was certainly a different experience,” Wilkins said. 

She still had to cope with a few injuries from soccer, but is working to get over them. While on the team Wilkins has found herself with new accomplishments and lower times race after race. Wilkins has medaled in each of the three meets this season so far.

“I think my best accomplishment of this year was at the Penn State Behrend meet, where I almost broke 20 minutes,” Wilkins said, talking about the three-and-a-half mile cross country race.

She feels that being a part of athletics has also challenged her in her academic career. She has not seen a decrease in her grades, but she has seen an increase in her responsibilities and an improvement in her time management skills. 

With this newfound responsibility, she hopes to continue to do well in the coming semesters and hopefully not hurt her double major. Wilkins’s drive for success is evident to many on her team, especially her coach.

“Kelsey is always positive when she comes to practice. She has a great attitude and is just a good kid all around,” Coach Kelly Parsley, Point Park’s Cross Country and Track and Field coach, said. 

Parsley finds Wilkins to be a very gifted athlete. Not only is she a good runner, but she is great academically as well. As the season has gone on he has seen her come close to breaking records, continuing to improve her times.

“With her race at Penn State Behrend she almost broke 20 minutes. That’s one of the top 3 times in the women’s cross country school’s history,” Parsley said.  

She is just ten seconds off from the school record of 19:51, held by her teammate Hanka Jiraskova. Parsley finds Wilkins to be a physically gifted athlete and knows that she will continue on with great success. Her teammates also love the positive energy she brings to the team. 

“Kelsey is a great friend. We never stop laughing in practice and at meets. She is very talented, and I admire that she can balance COPA and cross country at once,” freshman Eric Torres said. 

Her teammates expect great things to come from her because of her hard work and dedication. 

Freshman Alexis Sherman talked about how Wilkins always seems to make her laugh, whether she comes to practice in her costume makeup or eats nine cookies in one sitting. She finds that Wilkins works hard at everything she does whether it is in school or athletics.

“Kelsey is so supportive of our entire team, and I’m so happy she and I are such close friends,” Sherman said.