University of Minnesota Athletics
Warm-Up Lap: Q&A with Haley Rasmussen
11/3/2017 12:00:00 AM | Women's Cross Country
MINNEAPOLIS - Redshirt sophomore Haley Rasmussen joined the Golden Gopher women's cross country and track & field teams after beginning her college career as a member of the University of Minnesota Running Club. Now in her second season competing in uniform for the Maroon & Gold, the Chaska, Minn., native reflects on her journey to the U and her studies in biomedical engineering.
Gopher Sports: Backing up to the beginning of your college career, what was your journey to becoming a Gopher like?
Haley Rasmussen: My journey onto the team was a little bit different than everyone else's. For one thing, I didn't know I was going to the U until really late, so I especially didn't really think I would be running at the D1 level on such a big team. I came in wanting to run, but I started out in the running club. I guess I was doing pretty well there. I'd actually been racing in some of the same races, like Griak -- we raced in a different section than the team. I raced at UW-Eau Claire and UW-La Crosse, which had some of the girls [currently on the team], and I kind-of realized, 'hey, maybe this could be within in my reach.' One week, I decided to get a little brave and I reached out to Coach Hopkins via email asking if I could try out for the cross country team the following season. I ended up meeting with her and luckily enough for me, she said I could join right away so I hopped on right at the end of what would've been my freshman cross country season and then got to stick around for track and began competing in my sophomore year.
GS: How did you choose the University of Minnesota?
HR: The academic aspect was probably the most important thing for me just because I didn't think I would be running in college, so I'd been looking at other schools. I was actually really close between Wisconsin and Minnesota, and now I look back on that with shame. I ultimately picked Minnesota because I'm in biomedical engineering and Minneapolis is A) a really fun place to be and B) a huge medical hub so I figured there would be a lot of opportunities for internships and jobs and just having a good experience with the industry here.
GS: How did you choose to study biomedical engineering?
HR: Coming out of high school, I still kind-of had it in my mind that I wanted to be a doctor. I was looking around at different ways I could go about getting there and saw that there was this field called Cell and Tissue Engineering which is a specific track in the Mechanical Engineering program, and I thought, 'You know that kind-of fits with what I like, I'm really interested in stem cells and tissue engineering research, let's go that way.' I tried it out and stuck with it since. I'm really enjoying it.
GS: What is your favorite class you've taken at the U?
HR: My favorite class was molecular and cellular biology, which I took in the fall of my sophomore year. It was kind of like AP Biology on steroids and then supplemented with the mathematics behind a lot of the biological processes.
GS: What would you say is your dream job?
HR: I really want to go an entrepreneurial route and one day have my own company where I take an idea related to cell and tissue engineering and turn it into a product that is mine.
GS: You had an exciting opportunity to learn about the business side of things last summer. Tell us about your summer internship.
HR: Over the summer, I had an internship with a company called Catch Wind Innovations, which was more of the business side of things because it's a company that will help get medical technology from an idea phase to commercialization faster and cheaper by connecting the tech companies, investments groups, and service companies. It gets the process going faster, and it's a start-up as well, so it was just a couple of us there. I was immersed in it. I got to see a bunch of new medical technology and learn a lot. It was really great.
GS: Where is your favorite place to run in Minneapolis?
HR: I recently discovered a trail. You start on west bank and then it goes all the way to Lake of the Isles and Lake Calhoun. I think it goes on to Hopkins, too. The Greenway, that's my favorite.
GS: Do you have a favorite motivational quote or running mantra?
HR: I switch up my mantra every time. You'll see me, if I don't forget, I have a little sharpie word of the race along my left thumb. I guess it's not really a mantra, but one that really resonates with me was actually what I had on my hand for my 10K at Drake in track. I had a little arrow that was split into three sections because I was focusing on taking three sections of the race. Then at the end, it had the point of the arrow which meant to just go at the end. Just having a little image on my hand to remind me of my race plan was motivational.
GS: What does being a Gopher mean to you?
HR: Being a Gopher means being a part of a tightly knit family who will always support you throughout your journey. I think of my teammates and I think of strong and powerful and supportive women -- the kind of people that you want to be surrounded with that will push you to be your best but will also support you every step of the way.
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Players Mentioned
