{"id":35722,"date":"2017-11-14T08:32:45","date_gmt":"2017-11-14T13:32:45","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/?p=35722"},"modified":"2017-11-15T10:07:15","modified_gmt":"2017-11-15T15:07:15","slug":"royals-athlete-week-mikaela-zook","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/2017\/royals-athlete-week-mikaela-zook\/","title":{"rendered":"Royals Athlete of the Week: Mikaela Zook"},"content":{"rendered":"

Senior\u00a0Mikaela Zook<\/strong><\/a>\u00a0(Millersburg, Ind.\/Northridge) was a force to be reckoned with on Eastern Mennonite University\u2019s women’s soccer defensive line, and this week she wrapped up her soccer career with being voted\u00a0onto the All-ODAC Third Team by the other coaches in the conference.<\/p>\n

Zook transferred to EMU her junior year, after spending two years at Hesston College.<\/p>\n

\u201cSelfishly, I wish we could have had her for all four years,\u201d said Coach Ted Erickson. \u201cShe is a true competitor, who shows up to work hard every day, never moans about the hard practices, and is great to her teammates.\u201d<\/p>\n

Coming to EMU was a leap of faith for Zook.<\/p>\n

\u201cI didn\u2019t know anyone,\u201d she said, \u201cso that was really hard. That was a hard transition.\u201d<\/p>\n

She had to get to know an entirely new team, and find her place.<\/p>\n

\u201cAt the beginning of last season I didn\u2019t play as much because I had to earn my spot on the team, earn my role, too,” she said. “And my position was an outside defender, but initially that role was already filled.”<\/p>\n

However, it did not take too long for Zook to find her groove on the team.<\/p>\n

\u201cI guess maybe mid-season, I started playing outside back and then I just sort of stayed there,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

Zook prepared for her second and senior season with the Royals by running with her sisters and going to the gym.<\/p>\n

\u201cI actually love running, so that\u2019s kind of a hobby,\u201d she said. \u201cIt releases stress.\u201d<\/p>\n

The team chemistry was a highlight of the season for Zook.<\/p>\n

\u201cEveryone got along, and the incoming freshmen were just awesome,\u201d she said. \u201cWe were all competitive with each other, like all of our positions were very competitive in terms of who started, who played, but I don\u2019t think we let that interfere with the relationships on the team.\u201d<\/p>\n

Zook worked to provide guidance to the freshmen defenders she played with, but the main way she led her team this year was by helping to facilitate good teamwork. \u201cI kind of just do my job,\u201d Zook said. \u201cI think it\u2019s more of just a team effort is how I look at leadership, so like working well together.\u201d<\/p>\n

Zook is a health and physical education major with a kinesiology minor, and plans to stay in Harrisonburg for a couple years. She’ll do her student teaching next fall.<\/p>\n

Zook has mixed feelings about the end of her soccer career.<\/p>\n

\u201cI would say its overall rewarding but also kind of sad that I\u2019m closing that chapter in my life which has been a part of my life since, I don\u2019t know, third grade,\u201d she said, pausing. \u201cSo [I\u2019ll be] finding something else to replace that.\u201d<\/p>\n

Zook\u2019s parents initially wanted her to play basketball, which she did for many years.<\/p>\n

\u201cI kept coming back to soccer, and I kept wanting to play more,\u201d she said. \u201cAnd I think as the years went on my parents kind of started to like soccer.\u201d<\/p>\n

Zook appreciated having her teammates this season to lift her spirits at the end of the day.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think a major highlight of the season was just that I can go from having a not so good day of classes…and just go to practice, and there are girls on the team that are always so happy and it\u2019s so contagious,\u201d she said. \u201cI\u2019m definitely going to miss the personalities and playing with them in general.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWe will miss Mikaela,\u201d Erickson said. \u201cHer shoes will be extremely hard to fill next season. But we are excited to see her become a truly great teacher.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Senior\u00a0Mikaela Zook\u00a0(Millersburg, Ind.\/Northridge) was a force to be reckoned with on Eastern Mennonite University\u2019s women’s soccer defensive line, and this week she wrapped up her soccer career with being voted\u00a0onto ... read more about Royals Athlete of the Week: Mikaela Zook<\/span><\/a><\/p>","protected":false},"author":265,"featured_media":35726,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5720],"tags":[8738],"feature":[],"class_list":["post-35722","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-womens-soccer","tag-ted-erickson"],"yoast_head":"\nRoyals Athlete of the Week: Mikaela Zook - EMU News<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/emu.edu\/now\/news\/2017\/royals-athlete-week-mikaela-zook\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Royals Athlete of the Week: Mikaela Zook - 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