Behind The ARCC: Alumni Spotlight: Kristin Scheitrum C/O 2011

Recently, we caught up with Mount Alum Kristin Scheitrum (c/o 2011) and asked her about her experience at Mount St. Mary's University. Kristin is from Macungie, PA where she attended Emmaus High School. Upon graduation, Kristin took a marketing internship with the Lehigh Valley IronPigs, the Triple-A Affiliate of the Philadelphia Phillies. At the conclusion of the internship she was hired full-time as Manager of Corporate Partnerships. Just recently, she accepted a new position as Client Services Coordinator for the Chicago Sky WNBA team.

My experience at The Mount as a student-athlete was a little different than the norm, but something to remember forever. I went to The Mount to play basketball with the plan of playing with my classmates/teammates for four years. However, the life path I was on took a little detour and after suffering an injury at the beginning of my sophomore season, I thought I would never have the opportunity to play again.

I remained on the team and joined in everything – lifting, practice, film, etc. I was able to contribute what I could as a practice player and as an extra set of eyes on the bench during the games. But most importantly, I was able to be with my teammates, who became my family and best friends. Despite not playing on the court with them all the time, we grew together through countless experiences and times that shaped us for the future. Still to this day, they are some of my best friends.

While this life-changing experience was tough to grasp at the time, I came to appreciate even more, all The Mount had to offer outside of the gym. On the academic side, my four years were filled with professors that have made significant impacts on my life. The small classes allowed for more personal attention and the professors truly gave it to us. Rarely were my classes taught out of books, but through real-world experiences. I can’t imagine getting much more out of an education that what I got out of The Mount.

The relationships I built at The Mount are truly what made my experience so blessed. It’s a tight-knit, close community that supports each other through everything. After college, people go many different ways but we all know that we have one same place in our heart, and regardless of the separation, we never grow apart.

Kristin did suffer a career ending injury, however she did suit up for her Senior Night. With 1:05 left in the game, Coach Whitten called a timeout and Scheitrum checked in to the game. After the timeout, junior Sandra Andresson inbounded the ball to freshman Ashley Christie , who dribbled around the 3-point line and then came back to the top of the key to find Scheitrum with on a bounce pass around the foul line. Scheitrum took one dribble, turned and went up for a left-handed shot that tickled the twine with 55 seconds left for her final collegiate basket. The crowd went WILD!! Check out the video of this moment here : http://www.mountathletics.com/sports/wbkb/2010-11/releases/20110714s3uuop It was one of the most memorable moments in Mount Women's basketball.

To read more about her injury and her journey here is a great article written by her hometown newspaper. http://articles.mcall.com/2009-12-05/sports/4487739_1_damage-forces-nerve-damage-cord-damage