Taking the SoCon title in Cross-Country, in Indoor 3,000 meters and Outdoor 1,500 meters is really great. So is sporting a 4.0. But the feel of playing Mendelssohn’s Violin Concerto in E Minor with others? That’s indescribable.
Not that Ashley Schnell doesn’t have other favorites, such as Beethoven. The depth of his compositions – for example his Ninth Symphony – is extraordinary. “It brings chills every time you listen to it.”
Schnell transferred from Coe College to UNCG for its noted Music program. At Coe, she wasn’t being pushed enough in its relatively small program, she explains. She auditioned at UNCG, then had one lesson with faculty member Fabian Lopez. “I loved the way he did his lesson.” Now, she performs with UNCG’s Symphony Orchestra.
She also found the UNCG Track program to her liking, once she became a Spartan. She’d made Nationals at Coe, and at UNCG she become the first-ever Spartan to earn All-Region honors in cross country and the first-ever female Spartan to qualify for the NCAA East Regional.
She has broken the school record in every event in which she competed.
This summer, the nation’s sports information directors named her to the Academic All-America Third Team.
As a member of the honor society Golden Key, she has helped out on Thursday nights tutoring school kids of Burmese immigrant families. With Sigma Alpha Lambda, there are 3-4 service opportunities per month – she helped at a recent blood drive and the children’s area at Homecoming. Whenever she returns home to Nebraska, she works with FoodNet, which picks up food from supermarkets and restaurants and gives it to people who need help. She assists by sorting the food.
Schnell has run since she was 7 or 8. But she picked up the violin when she was half that age, and music will be her passion long after her track career has ended.
She is auditioning for graduate schools, to further broaden her career horizons. Ultimately, she may be part of a symphony group or join a smaller group. Or perhaps a pit orchestra on Broadway. The next stage of her education will help her sort out what she wants to do with her career.
Her cross country team is doing well this fall, she notes. They have more confidence. They aspire to greater things: to win the SoCon, to get a Top 5 showing at Regionals and to make it to Nationals.
The team, led by head coach Linh Nguyen, began October ranked in the Top 15 in the region, a first for the program.
Setting higher goals helps you envision greater opportunities, she explains.
“This year, it’s ‘Go for it.’”
By Mike Harris, University Relations
Photography by Chris English, University Relations
