Headed into her sophomore year at Northwestern, Abbie Grieser has plenty of goals she would like to reach. The three-sport athlete, who received her varsity letter in track last spring as a freshman, is hoping to progress her ability in her sports where she can not only make the next step to the varsity level, but be a strong contributor to the Warriors this coming year.

Grieser is preparing for next month’s beginning of the cross country season and is using her time effectively for all of her sports this summer to reach that goal as a sophomore.

“I am currently playing basketball, running cross country and track this year,” she said. “I started playing basketball around age ten and I have loved it ever since. This will be my first year of running cross country after playing volleyball as a freshman.”

“I decided to run cross country after enjoying running distance in track during the spring of my freshman year and the team said I would help become more involved and to see what I could accomplish as a runner. When I was younger, I would attend all kinds of athletic events and games with my family and that influenced me to start playing sports.”

Last season, Northwestern finished below the midway point in the Central Buckeye Conference league meet, and with another year brings more hope for the Warriors. Grieser hopes to be a part of a special season, where both her team and herself competes with the rest of the league.

“Our goal is to win the CBC title which I believe we have a good chance to doing it we all continue to keep pushing and encouraging each other to be the best we can be,” Grieser said. Last season Tippecanoe won the conference, but has since moved to the Greater Western Ohio Conference. They have a lot of improvements to accomplish, but for Grieser, she just wants to be a part of it all.

“My individual goal is to be in the top seven for our team,” she stated, which would earn her varsity recognition.

“This summer, our cross country team runs three days a week, but I also will continue my workouts and conditioning on the off days,” she said. “For basketball, we have played in shootouts and have had open gyms, and I also work on shooting and ball handling skills on my own time.”

Basketball has become her favorite sport, and she hopes to be a part of the varsity Warriors this year if her improvement continues.

“Some of my favorite highlights are the long bus rides for away games with my teammates and that I got to swing varsity and play against some better competition,” Grieser said. “I had the honor to play with some teammates that I would not have been able to play with otherwise if not for the chance to play varsity this year.”

Grieser is also involved in FFA at Northwestern, and while she plans to attend college, it is too early to know what she wants to do at the next level yet.

“I am really not sure,” she said. “I know that it will have something to do with athletics and working with young athletes.”