Colleen Quickly

“I was not the kid saying that when I grew up I wanted to be a professional athlete or an Olympic athlete. I think I was only vaguely aware of what the Olympics were when I was growing up,” Olympic track athlete and Nerinx Hall graduate Colleen Quigley said.Quigley, who finished in eighth place in the 3000m steeplechase at the 2016 Rio Summer Olympics, did not even start thinking about the Olympics until her senior year in college.

Growing up, Quigley played on a soccer team and began a successful modeling career, including participating in editorial work for Glamour and Seventeen magazines. In fact, Quigley only started running her freshman year in high school because she was too scared to try out for the competitive Nerinx Hall soccer team. However, track soon stuck with her as she “fell in love with the team, the girls, and the little taste of success I got that spring and haven’t been able to give it up since.”

Despite Quigley’s naive attitude towards the Olympics growing up, she certainly did not take her experience for granted. “It’s hard to say I ever felt more joy than during that victory lap at Hayward Field and hugging my parents and boyfriend,” Quigley said.

However, Quigley’s Olympic success did not come without hard work and sacrifices. As a professional runner for the Bowerman Track Club, Quigley must dedicate every minute of her life to training for optimal performance at race time. “The biggest thing that my teammates and I sacrifice is simply a normal life where you’re 23 and you get off work at five and go to happy hour and go out until two drinking and dancing on the weekend,” Quigley said, who on average is in bed at 10pm and up at 7am, and rarely allows herself to have a dessert or drink. Despite these sacrifices, Quigley claims that it is “100 percent worth it.” Quigley is also not hesitant to attribute her successes to her family and friends in St. Louis.

“I felt so much love from St. Louis after making the Olympic team. Once in Rio, so many people sent me Facebook messages, texts, tweets, emails,” she said.”Many people from high school, friends of my parents, people I met at FSU, all reaching out to tell me they were following along and cheering for me down in Rio. I couldn’t believe so many people had heard about my story and took the time to write to me and tell me they were tuning in.”

On the day of her steeplechase final in Rio, Nerinx Hall gathered all of the students together to live stream her race on a big screen.

“Many students sent me videos of the girls screaming for me and singing the national anthem while they waited for the race to start. This was so touching because I graduated in 2011, so none of the girls I went to school with are even there anymore,” she said. “That was really touching to see my alma mater supporting me so strongly.”

Quigley also makes sure to stay connected to St. Louis, no matter where her running takes her. Given that her dad is the head coach for the Nerinx Hall track and cross country teams, Quigley frequently visits her old high school to give advice to her old team.

“One thing I like to tell them is that when I was in high school I wasn’t worried about where I would go to college for running,” she said. “I didn’t even think I would run in college until my senior year. I focused every day on consistently working hard at practice, doing my very best in workouts and races. If you don’t think you could ever be a pro athlete much less an Olympian, neither did I. If you think you would never get recruited at a D1 school and get offered a full ride scholarship, neither did I. If you don’t think you could ever win a state title, neither did I. I think the most important part is going to practice every day with a positive attitude and a willingness to work really hard and push yourself to be your absolute best. Do that constantly for years and you never know where it might take you. I believe this applies to the rest of our lives.”