Nov. 8, 2007

Kate Greer looks like the model student athlete. The senior from Marshalltown, Iowa has been one of the Tigers best runners this season. She's providing leadership on the course, and community service off of it. She's doing all the little things and savoring her last year as a Tiger - a year that almost never happened. Greer graduated last year, and could have left the team with eligibility remaining.

"I didn't know I was going to come back until the last minute. I wasn't ready to leave this place, I had such a great experience here and I really enjoy running and I wanted to see one more year, and to see what we could do as a team, and we have such an awesome group of girls." Greer said. "Everyday coming to practice is such fun for me, and I might as well postpone the real world for as long as I can."

She may say she's postponing the real world, but she's been doing a lot more than that. Greer was recently named to the Big 12 Good Works Team for a combination of her community service and her athletic achievements.

"Right now we're working on a very cool project and Mike Alden's been very supportive of it. It's Nike's `Reuse a Shoe' program, you can donate your tennis shoes to Nike and they'll make tracks, playgrounds, basketball courts, that kind of thing, for under privileged areas." Greer said. "We're working on getting that started up for Missouri right now, so look for that in the future."

When she's not doing community service or running down the competition, Greer's using her final year scholarship year at Mizzou to do even more work, and she's not taking ballroom dancing. "Right now I'm getting my Masters in Health Promotions." Greer said. "I'm trying to get my Masters in two semesters, so I'm crazy busy all the time."

Being crazy busy is part of life as a student athlete, but being productive and busy is a choice that separates the stars from the jocks.

"We have a unique program, one of the most academically focused in the nation. We're here to be students first, athletes second, and community members as well." Greer said. "I think the busier I am and the more involved I am, the happier I am, and the more successful I'll be in running too."

Last year Greer finished first or second for Missouri in every race, earning All-Midwest honors and almost grabbing All-Big 12 honors. This season she's been just as consistent, placing in the top three on the team in multiple races and finishing as high as 8th overall at Vanderbilt on Sept. 15, and Bradley on Oct. 12. Amazingly, Greer is doing all of this after coming back from a knee injury.

"It was a little scary there for a while, but the coming back transition has been really good. Coach Becca [Rebecca Wilmes] really knows what she's doing with this kind of thing. It's been an excellent transition so far, I've been very lucky, and I'm looking forward to track season." Greer said.

You can't spend nearly half a decade in Columbia without walking away with some memories, and Greer is no exception, pointing to a poignant memory a couple of years back, when the team won at the Regional meet her sophomore year; but she won't just miss the competition.

"I'll miss everything. I'm so grateful for the opportunity to come here. I wasn't a stellar high school athlete but Coach Becca saw something special in me, as she has a lot of girls on our team. A lot of us weren't state champions." Greer said. "I just feel so grateful that I could be a part of this program, because distance running is very finicky, and my coaches know what they're doing, and everyday whether or not I'm running my best times or my worst times they care about me as a person."

After finishing up this year, Greer says she plans to go to law school down the road, but would like to live some place exotic first. "I'm applying to places like Nike, I've applied at some ad agencies and consulting firms too, but eventually law school, I just didn't know if I could go to school for 26 years in a row." Greer said with a smile. "I'd love to be a trial lawyer, both my parents are lawyers, for a lot of time I was against it, but I think I'd really enjoy it."

But is she intimidating enough to conquer cases as well as cross country courses? "Oh, watch out, just make me angry." She says jokingly. For the team's sake, they hope Greer gets angry enough to take down the upcoming regional in Peoria.

By: Josh Fowler - Media Relations Student Assistant