New Tuesday Profile: Creasy Clauser

ARNIE AURELLANO
Journal Review
NEW MARKET — Creasy Clauser is far from a typical high school senior.
She’s one of the most decorated student runners in Southmont High School and Montgomery County history. She also plays varsity basketball, plays the clarinet in marching band, concert band and pep band, performs as a drum major, and is involved in Key Club, the Fellowship of Christian Athletes, National Honor Society, Science Club and the student ambassadors.
She manages to do all of it while maintaining a top 10 GPA among Southmont seniors. Oh, and she has a state High School Heisman sitting on a shelf in her bedroom.
All of which begs the question: When does she sleep?
“I get seven and a half, eight hours of sleep at night no matter what,” said Clauser, who gets up five days a week at 6:15 a.m. “That’s more than a lot of people my age get.”
That seems like an accomplishment in itself, given her daily grind. It’s all just business as usual for Clauser, though. If anything, her years of involvement in sports and extracurricular activities have taught her how to organize.
One look in her student planner reveals a neatly arranged, though heavily packed, day-to-day schedule, with every weekday having time allotted for at least one afterschool activity.
“This week is actually a light week,” she chuckled.
So why does she continue to push herself during a time when many kids her age are winding down their high school years, kicking back, and taking a little senior break?
“The reason that I do everything is that I really like being involved,” Clauser said. “I can’t stand not doing something. If I was sitting at home, I would go crazy.
“I don’t really think it’s that hard,” she said. “I’ve learned how to be a really good time manager. I can multi-task. Honestly, I guess I just really like being busy.
“My mom even said sometimes that I overexert myself, but you know, that’s just who I am. I love to push myself.”
Clauser, who is named after her maternal grandmother — Creasy is her grandmother’s maiden name — has seen that drive pay dividends on the track. A four-season veteran of the Mounties’ track and cross country teams, Clauser has received many accolades over the years for her running, culminating in a second place finish in last year’s 800-meter dash at the state tournament.
According to her, she owes it all to her parents, Brenda and Allan Clauser.
“My parents pretty much made it possible for me to do whatever I wanted to do whenever I wanted to do it,” she said. “They were very supportive, and they always have been.
They put a lot of good morals in me about hard work and effort.
“In the beginning, they pushed me a lot. They had me join a lot of different activities and sports teams so I could find out what I liked. Once I started running, they just got behind me 100 percent. They helped push me so much, and the work ethic that they gave me is something that made me a better runner.”
Her father, Clauser said, was a big influence in her decision to become a runner.
“My dad was the one who got me started in seventh grade. He was a runner all through high school.
He was always saying, ‘You’ve got to be a runner, you’re built to be a runner, you’ve got to run.’ I hated running, hated it with a passion. I just refused. Sometimes, I cried when we ran laps. But my dad just kept encouraging me, and I tried out for track in seventh grade and just absolutely loved it.”
Clauser said she gets some of her competitive nature from her dad.
“I hate to lose. I hate it, she said, smiling. “I’d do anything to win.”
Always a gracious competitor, Clauser also credits her coaches for her development as an athlete.
“Our head coach, Coach (Marvin) Walters, he’s been amazing. I don’t know how he keeps doing it. He’s been such a good influence and I’ve learned so much from him.
“Also, (Southmont track/cross country assistant) Coach Lindsay Carlile, he’s been the best person in the entire world for me. He gets inside my head and he knows how to motivate me to go faster. I couldn’t be where I am without him.”
“I’m more of a guilt motivated person,” Clauser said, smiling. “Coach knows that.”
Clauser also praises Reasley Thompson, the girls basketball coach at Southmont, for doing his part in helping her develop athletically.
“Coach T is awesome,” she said. “We had a rough start to our basketball program here. I didn’t have the same coach two years in a row since I started until he came along. He’s been so supportive of me since he’s been here, again, pushing me, helping me get better. It’s just easy to see that I wouldn't be the player I am if it wasn’t for him.”
Despite all of her athletic and extracurricular achievements, Clauser never neglects her other commitments.
She maintains a 4.0 grade point average on a weighted scale, good for sixth in the senior class. Her favorite classes are AP biology and calculus.
She also sets aside time during some of her mornings to tutor.
Outside of school, she always makes sure to keep her Sundays open for her church activities — a faithful member of New Hope Christian Church, she is involved in the Youth Leadership Council and attends youth group meetings every week.
Clauser said her busy schedule sometimes gets in the way of her personal life. She recently had to bow out of seeing a movie with friends because her schedule is packed so tightly. Still, the easygoing Clauser knows that life can’t be all work and no play, and she makes time accordingly to relax and unwind.
“I love Guitar Hero,” she said. “Right now, my favorite song is ‘Rooftops’ (by Lostprophets).”
While the end of basketball season will afford Clauser a little more free time, she’ll soon be adjusting to a new schedule. A couple of weeks ago, she committed to Rose-Hulman Institute of technology, where she’ll study biomedical engineering and continue her on-track efforts.
She said she will “probably join the band” and get involved with the college’s faith and fellowship organizations, which, according to her, were a big draw to the school.
“Rose-Hulman has a really nice chapel with regular Sunday service, which I found helpful,” she said.
“And they’ve got two or three fellowship organizations in Terre Haute and a few more on campus that I want to get involved with.”
Clearly, Clauser has every intention of taking her busy schedule with her to college
“I wouldn’t know what to do with myself if I didn’t,” she said.
Out of all the things on her plate, though, it doesn’t take long for her to pick out her first love.
“Track. Definitely track,” she said. “Band is a really close second, but if I had to pick one, I’d have to say track.
“I’m a runner. I just love being out on the track, going as fast as I can.”