Rock Island Today

In spite of the nagging hamstring injury that kept her out of the recent Missouri Valley Conference (MVC) Indoor Track and Field Championships, former Moline High School standout Haley Verbeke is looking ahead to the start of the 2016 outdoor season. 

The Redbirds open the outdoor season at the Eastern Illinois Big Blue Classic in Charleston on March 31.

“I mostly run the long distance events in track; in outdoors I’ll be running the 5K and 10K," Verbeke recently told Rock Island Today. "I’ll be looking to score in those events in conference."

Indoors last season the Illinois State junior ranked second on the team in the 5K with a time of 17:49.71 and seventh in the 3K at 10:14.82. Outdoors, she ranked third in the 10K (36:50.24), fourth in the 5K (17:39.97) and 10th in the 1,500 meters with a time of 4:56.71. Verbeke won the 3K race in the Eastern Illinois University John Craft meet last January with a time of 10:31.44. She also had top-10 finishes in the Terre Haute event (3K), the Indiana Relays (5K) and at the MVC Outdoor Championships (10K).

At Moline, Verbeke was a four-time MVP and four-time letter winner on the track and cross country team, leading her team to four cross country championships. She participated in the state championships in all four years and was twice named Metro Runner of the Year. Academically, Verbeke made the honor roll every semester and was a member of the National Honor Society. Her older sister, Rebekah, graduated from Moline in 2013 and is 16th all-time on the school’s triple jump list.

Although she described her transition from high school to college as difficult in the beginning, Verbeke credits the strict routine for helping to her adjust. 

“It helped being on the cross country/track team because my schedules were set just like they were in high school and that made it easier for me to manage my time," she said. “Doing well in the classroom is the most important thing.

Close behind, she said were “succeeding in my sport as well, trying to stay injury free, and to maintain strong relationships with my teammates and friends outside of cross country and track."

Although she describes herself as demanding, Verbeke has a caring aspect to her personality as well. She likes to work with children and has done volunteer work for the Special Olympics. In a 2014 event at the ISU campus, she assisted participants in organizing games and activities. 

“Working (with) those kids (who) participated in the Special Olympics program gave me a great feeling, knowing that I was helping them have a good time," she said. "They are so excited to be here. They are so positive and they just want to do well in their sport. Their personality and positivity, the love that comes from them to you, makes you feel appreciative for what you have."

She also helped Assistant Coach LaMar Garrett with a summer running camp that year.

Verbeke is pursuing a degree in insurance and, for her, procrastination is not an option. 

“I want to make sure I have that job locked in before I graduate college," she said. “I’m trying to work on being proactive and getting ahead of the game instead of waiting to the last minute.” 

Verbeke hopes to work in an insurance firm in a bigger city than where she grew up.

 “I am open to live and work anywhere and just go anywhere the job takes me," she said. 

She hopes to continue running in her leisure time and would like to have a family as well. 

 “It’s hard to plan out your life that far in advance because sometimes things don’t always work out the way you want them to," she cautioned. “I just hope that whatever I’m doing that I’ll just enjoy doing it.”