St. Edward grad Kossakowski balances a busy life at NIU

Balancing life as a college student and an NCAA Division I athlete is tough enough.

For St. Edward product Kali Kossakowski it's been even trickier as she moves closer to earning her nursing degree at Northern Illinois University.

“It's always busy during the season,” said Kossakowski, a senior middle infielder for the Huskies. “The coaches have been so understanding when I can't make certain things. As an example (Wednesday) I have clinical and we have a doubleheader against Valparaiso. I either will be late or not make it to one of the games. They have been very accommodating and have worked with me.”

Kossakowski is scheduled to graduate in December and is contemplating grad school. Her goal is to work as a nurse in pediatric oncology.

“That's the goal, but I know I'll probably have to start off in other areas and get a little experience first,” she said.

Kossakowski's interest in pediatric oncology stems from her volunteer work for the St. Charles-based Cal's Angels, a pediatric cancer foundation established in 2007. Kossakowski noted her aunt is on the Cal's Angels board of directors.

“I've been volunteering there for the last 10 years,” she said. “We will go and visit children at Lurie Children's Hospital (in Chicago). It sparked an interest. We're studying that in my ped's class right now and I love it. It's a very interesting subject.”

To that point, Kossakowski helped arrange a pediatric cancer awareness game at NIU this season that features Cal's Angels involvement.

“This is the first year we've done it with softball and hopefully in the fall we can get more NIU teams to do it as well,” she said.

Kossakowski, who is related to football legend Jim Thorpe, also finds time to help lead a Bible study group on campus. “It's a couple girls from our team and a couple from a few other teams throughout the athletic department,” she said. “We meet on Tuesday for an hour or so and see how everybody's week is going and we'll dive into Bible verses and see what everybody needs. It's an awesome support system that the girls have here.”

On the field, Kossakowski is a key contributor to an NIU team that was 22-18 and 10-8 in MAC West action through Wednesday.

“We started off on the down-low, but have climbed back up,” she said. “We have three weeks left here.”

At this point in the interview, Kossakowski started to reflect on her softball career coming to a close.

“It's kind of hard,” she said. “It's coming to an end. I've been doing this for so long. You go for four hours every day to once the season is over, what am I going to do? It's going to be a change, but I'm looking forward to seeing how we end the season. Hopefully it will be with some rings (MAC title). The MAC is pretty interesting. It can change in a weekend. It's interesting to see which teams beat each other. I have confidence that we will make the (conference) tournament for sure. Hopefully things fall our way and we can get first in the MAC West.”

The 2017 season has seen Kossakowski up her power numbers. Through Wednesday she was hitting .345 (third on the team in average) and was tied for the team lead in home runs with seven and has 15 RBI. She's also the team leader in stolen bases with 12 and ranks second in hits with 41.

“This season has been more of a power number for me,” she said. “I've kind of surprised myself, but it's a good surprise. I'm more of a power hitter I guess. I'm approaching things differently. I'm not too focused on statistics. I take every day for what it's worth and make sure I'm leaving everything on the field every chance I get. I've learned to enjoy the game and have an enjoyable time.”

Kossakowski, an all-MAC second-team pick last year, said playing college softball was a long-term dream when she was younger playing at St. Edward and with the Wasco Diamonds travel organization (where she has been a coach recently).

“It always was a dream or something I thought I wanted to achieve,” she said. “I always wanted to shoot for Division I. Once I accomplished that, it was an awesome feeling. It's been a great four years here. I wouldn't change a thing about it and wouldn't trade this for anything. NIU has been awesome, especially with having a nursing major. A lot of schools wouldn't let you do both. It's been a huge blessing.”

Shulski at Marquette: St. Charles native Alex Shulski just finished his final year as a volleyball player on Marquette University's Division I men's club volleyball team. This past season Shulski led the Golden Eagles to first place in the Illini-Hoosier Classic at Indiana that features the top-ranked teams from the Midwest and East Coast.

Marquette finished first at the MIVA championship, which is regarded as the top Division I club tournament in the Midwest. There, Marquette defeated the Nos. 1, 3, 9 and 10 ranked teams in the country.

Marquette also won the Wisconsin state title by beating the No. 1 team in the country in straight sets. Marquette also played in the NCVF national tournament and finished third. The NCVF tournament features the top 48 schools in the country.

Shulski was a four-year starter as the setter for Marquette and twice earned Midwest 10 first-team honors and all-Wisconsin Volleyball Conference accolades. This past season he was co-club president.

Off at College wants your help: Send information and/or statistics on Fox Valley area athletes playing collegiately to Mike Miazga at mjm890@gmail.com. Spring sports submissions are encouraged.