Cavalier Corner is the publication just for UVa sports fans!
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/1527011
FALL 2024 7 cavalier sports A Leesburg, Va., native, Jenny Schilling came to the University of Virginia pre- pared for a normal college experience. The fourth-year is pursuing a computer science major in UVA's School of Engineering and Applied Science, with a minor in data sci- ence, and recently completed an internship at Nike over the summer at the Nike Head- quarters in Portland, Ore. Surprisingly, Schilling did not pursue col- lege running out of high school and actually took two years off from running entirely during the COVID-19 pandemic. Yet Schil- ling earned All-America honors with a 39th- place finish at the 2023 NCAA Champion- ships, becoming the first Virginia distance runner to earn All-America honors since Barbara Strehler in 2013. Completing the course in 20:06.4, Schilling led the Virginia women's cross country team to a 15th- place finish at the NCAA Championships on their home course. When Schilling arrived on Grounds, she decided to join UVA Club Running, a stu- dent-led group, "because I wanted to join a social organization and make some friends, be a little more active," Schilling said. "That was where I met some of my best friends that I'm still really, really close with." What started as an active way to meet people turned into winning the Charlottesville 10-miler in a head-turning time of 57:32.03. The head course coordinator contacted Virginia's director of track & field and cross country, Vin Lananna, about Schilling's per- formance. In the summer of 2023, Schilling walked-on to the UVA cross country team. In her first season as a Division I varsity athlete, Schilling broke all kinds of records, including her incredible feat at the 2023 NCAA Cross Country Championships. Her dominant year continued as she won bronze in the 5,000 meters, clocking 16:02.57 at the 2024 Indoor ACC Championships before going on to break the outdoor 10,000-me- ter school record with her time of 32:44.19 at the Raleigh Relays. The previous record was set by Patty Matava in 1987. "My goal in August of last year was to be top seven [on the team]," Schilling said. "I told myself, 'If I'm going to be on this team and I'm gonna dedicate all this time to this and I'm not on scholarship or anything, I'm only gonna do it if I'm actually contributing to the team. I'm not gonna spend all this time and effort on this team if it's not get- ting me anywhere.' "And so then to be our top finisher [at the NCAA meet], I did not expect that." While her path from walk-on to All-Amer- ican was unconventional, "I wouldn't have done it any differently," Schilling said. — Jen Dietrich getting to know Fourth-Year Cross Country Runner Jenny Schilling Schilling earned All-America honors with a 39th-place finish at the 2023 NCAA Cross Country Championships, becoming the first Virginia distance runner to earn All-America honors since Barbara Strehler in 2013. (Photo courtesy UVA)