Joseph Scheele to run at Valparaiso University
By FRED KRONER
Running has been a prominent part of Joseph Scheele’s life the past eight years.
The 2022 Mahomet-Seymour graduate plans to keep it that way for at least four more years.
He recently signed a letter of intent to continue running at Valparaiso (Indiana) University, where he will receive a partial scholarship.
“Being a college athlete was just the next natural step,” Scheele said. “I’ve gone from 5Ks as a kid to junior high running to high school running.
“Therefore, college running would logically come next. If I wasn’t running for a college, I would still run by myself or with a group as a hobby, so why not try to join a team and get better?”
He comes from a family of runners and has been an active participant since fifth grade.
“It was my family that got me into it,” Scheele said. “My dad ran in college, and both of my parents still crank out races to this day.”
Scheele plans to major in mathematics, but hasn’t yet determined a career path. As he went through the recruitment process, the reputation of the running programs at the universities that he considered wasn’t the No. 1 priority.
That meant he was involved with self-promotion.
“I received a couple letters from various schools about running for them,” Scheele said. “However, I was not going to college with my main intention being to run.
“I looked for schools that met my academic and other various needs, and then reached out to them via recruitment questionnaires so I would be put on their radar.”
He visited an assortment of colleges in Illinois, Indiana and Michigan, but saw Valparaiso as a good fit.
“I know people that went there or still live there,” Scheele said. “It has a good program for my major, has an amazing campus, and has a team that has a spot for me.”
During his M-S career, Scheele ranks among the school’s all-time career leaders in track.
His top times outdoors in both the 1,600 meters (4:28.66) and the 3,200 meters (10:10.69) are among the school’s top 25.
He was also part of a 3,200-meter relay as a senior that posted M-S’ sixth-best time ever (8:06.19).
Scheele was a four-year letter winner for the Bulldogs in cross-country and finished with three letters in track. His sophomore season in track didn’t happen because of COVID-19.
He was equally effective in the 3-mile races during cross-country as he was in track, placing 50th at state in Class 2A (in 15 minutes, 48.59 seconds) as a senior (out of 236 runners) after placing fifth at sectionals and second at regionals.
There was no state cross-country meet in Scheele’s junior year, due to COVID-19, but he was the fourth-place finisher individually at regionals, which M-S won.
All four years in cross-country, Scheele was one of the Bulldogs’ top five runners at sectionals.
Scheele’s work ethic and the various mentors he had enabled him to achieve his dream of running in college.
“My coaches helped develop my consistency, which is key to being a good athlete,” Scheele said. “To excel as a runner, training year-round is a requirement.
“Since I would be running anyway, track is a good way to not only stay in shape, but also to get better.”
He expects the improvement to continue while at Valparaiso.
“I think I’m coming in with a group of freshmen similar to me, so I’ll have some good training partners,” Scheele said.
His signing day ceremony was a special memory.
“It was nice to see my friends that I’ve trained with all these years come and support me on my signing day,” Scheele said.
The distance between Mahomet and Valparaiso (approximately 150 miles) helped convince Scheele that he was heading in the right direction.
“Valpo being close enough, but not next door was one of the reasons I chose to go there,” Scheele said. “I think that it is the perfect distance.”
