As a teenager, Olivia Borowiak's sport of choice was gymnastics. Later, while she was running her warm-up miles, she realized she was fast and decided she wanted to run.
So she joined the cross country team in middle school.
“And it all stemmed from there,” said Borowiak, now a graduate student and running star who has attended DePaul since 2019. During that time, she has broken numerous records in the women's running category. Her last conference was Big East Track and Field Championshipsended Saturday, May 11, at Villanova.
With a bachelor's degree in writing and rhetoric, she is currently working toward a master's degree in creative writing and publishing, and says she has a schedule that allows for plenty of time for training.
She jokingly calls herself a “student athlete.”
“Running becomes the structure of my day, and I spend all my free time working or doing hobbies,” Borowiak said.
While at DePaul, she was the women's indoor track record holder in the mile, 3,000 meter, and 5,000 meter dashes. In 2023, Borowiak and Nina Amicon became among the first DePaul cross country athletes to earn All-Big East Second Team honors at the Big East Cross Country Championships.
“It's really amazing,” Borowiak said. “I never thought I would be able to achieve this much, so I’m really happy that I was able to do it.”
Senior Megan Deball was a freshman when she met Borowiak and has enjoyed being teammates ever since.
“She's a good leader,” Deball said. “She is definitely someone we all look up to, not just in training, but in general.”
Jeff Weighton, one of DePaul's cross country and track coaches, agreed that Borowiak “leads by example.”Wayton joined DePaul in December 2021 and met Borowiak shortly after.
“She's not a vocal leader,” Weighton said. “But as she got better, she made everyone around her better. That's her legacy, Olivia.”
Borowiak has received many other awards throughout her running career, including: 2023 All-Big East Second Team. 2023 NCAA Woman of the Year nominee. and 2022-23 Big East All-Academic Team.
Her favorite moment of her college career so far has been qualifying for the 2022 national championships in cross country.
“I felt like I was finally doing what I had always wanted to do,” Borowiak said.
On a different note, she loved reading and writing, which led her to want to write a full-length novel someday.
“It’s a novel that juxtaposes running and team bonding from high school to college,” Boriak said. “And my other idea is something like a tragedy/romance.”