Senior Salute - Emily Hao
The Cobber "Senior Salute" series is a way to honor all the Concordia spring sports athletes who had their senior season come to an abrupt halt. We want to highlight one senior each day to thank them for all their hard work, dedication and Cobber spirit they have show over their careers in maroon and gold.
Cobber Senior Salute - Emily Hao - Women's Track & Field
What was one of the things you were looking forward to most in the upcoming season?
Honestly I was just looking for one last year with the team (aka the best people ever) to finish it off. These 2.5ish years just haven’t been enough time with them. This has also been a good year for both me, personally, and for the team, in terms of lots of fresh, huge PR’s and hitting times I’d never thought were possible even last year. There was so much hard work and potential left for what probably would have been my best outdoor and one final MIAC!
What is one of the top things you will miss about being a Cobber athlete?
Definitely the people - my teammates, the coaches, and the Cobber athletic family in general. Whether at 8 a.m. or 4 p.m., going to practice and surrounding myself with such awesome, hard-working, supportive, and kind people was something I looked forward to each and every day as a Cobber athlete. I loved being able to grow together through the highs and lows over the years and will miss them so much.
What is something you are going to miss about Concordia College – away from athletics?
Probably the great number of hours I’ve spent with my friends sitting in DS having wild conversations, or doing nothing when we were supposed to be studying, and being there to help each other through school, life out of athletics, etc. Above all I will miss our countless great memories and crazy shenanigans that happened on snow days or the rare free weekends. Oh, and DS peanut butter!!!
What is one of your favorite highlights/memories from your time playing athletics/being with your team?
Performance-wise it’s probably between PRing huge during MIAC for cross country and getting to be with my team down at Regions, or finally hitting my 3 year’s goal time for the 800 at the UND tune-up and getting to finish it out at Indoor MIAC. Of course I always love getting to shout at my teammates when they run by in their races! Some of my greatest highlights though probably come from the late nights playing games or hanging out following long bus rides or meets.
What is one of your favorite memories from Concordia away from athletics?
There are way too many to choose from. I will really miss singing really off tune while trying to forget the cold walking across campus, or having unnecessarily long movie marathons out of the blue. I will also miss the Cobber Community in general - being able to work with some awesome professors/the Neuroscience Squad, Homecoming, and walking to the Moorhead Dairy Queen every 1st day of spring for free ice cream with my friends.
What are your post-graduation plans?
This fall I will be attending UND for my first year of medical school. It’s definitely going to be something new and a bit scary, but I am excited to see what the future holds! As for now, it’s one thing at a time.