Senior defender Mary Kate Schmidt (Louisville, Ky./ Sacred Heart Academy) was the co-winner of the "Player of the Year" honor for women's soccer in the College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin, the first player in Titan history to win the honor. Schmidt, who was CCIW "Player of the Week" five times this season and nine times in her career, was a backline leader who helped keep opponents to a conference-low 22 shots.
She was a third team All-American in 2014, has been first team all-CCIW three seasons and was first team all-region as a junior after being second team as a sophomore.
A nursing major at Illinois Wesleyan, she is the daughter of Joe and Robin Schmidt.
Why you chose Illinois Wesleyan: Because of the safe neighborhood surrounding the campus
IWU class you’re most qualified to teach: Intro to Dramatic Literature
The hardest challenge about being a Division III student-athlete is: Having to pay for the majority of my meals
Worst grade in a class you ever got – what and when? B in Spanish Linguistics junior year
Worst habit: Shopping when I’m stressed
Most expensive traffic ticket: N/A
Language I’d like to learn: As a Spanish minor, I would really like to learn Spanish
The longest I could survive without my cell phone: A long time
One word your mother or father would use to describe you: “independent”
Favorite sports figure: Tess Bottorff
My greatest moment in sports was: Anything NCAA Tournament 2014
The best player I ever faced was: Arin Gilliand
Worst dresser on my team: Skyler Tomko
Thing that’s been in my fridge the longest: Alison’s spoiled milk
Person I’m dying to have dinner with: Julie Johnston
Favorite food: Ice cream
Vegetable I won’t eat: Brussels sprouts
Pepsi or Coke? Coke
Favorite TV show: "Quantico"
Favorite musical group: Zac Brown Band
Favorite movie: "Hardball"
If a movie were made of my life, I would like the following person to play me: Jennifer Lawrence
If my life were on TV as a reality show, I’d call it: "Derby Shore"
The person in history I would most like to meet is: Princess Diana
My dream job would be: Neonatal Intensive Care nurse
Place I’d most like to live: Louisville, Kentucky
Two things that are tops on my “bucket list”: Swimming with sharks and visiting all seven continents
My possession that would fetch the most on eBay: My headgear
Who is the luckiest person in the world? Timmy Smith
What I miss most about being in the third grade: Having pets in class
