Junior sprinter Shanthi Chodagiri decided to try track on a whim. Lucky for her coaches, she liked it.

The biochemistry major from Brighton, N.Y. recently led her team to a third place finish out of 11 teams at the Saints Indoor Invitational hosted by St. Lawrence University.
Chodagiri was a double winner, taking the top spot in the 500-meter dash and running the opening leg of the first-place 4-by-400 meter relay team.

How long have you been running?
I’ve been running since seventh grade.

What made you decide to become a runner?
I tried out for the basketball team, and I didn’t make it, so I decided to join a team that didn’t have cuts. Track was the one.

What do you think about when you’re running a race?

I try to block out the pain, and I sometimes have a song in my head. If I hear someone’s footsteps behind me, I speed up.
I’m just trying to make it to the finish line without someone catching me.

What do you think is the best part about being on the track team?
I like being competitive and the adrenaline rush that comes with it, especially after the race, whether you did well or not.
I also really like the friends that you make and practicing with them.
It’s nice having time off from stressful schoolwork.

How do you keep up with schoolwork and participate in a varsity sport?
I just stay up late and try to find time whenever I can.

What’s your guilty pleasure?
Sleeping in, since I’m always staying up so late.

What do you like to do in your free time?

I like hanging out with my friends, reading and doing outdoor activities. I’m a member of the UR Outing Club.

Philbrick is a member of the class of 2009.



Petition to Protect Student Activism gains traction on campus

“There can be no affirmation of students’ right to free expression without the removal of excessive surveillance and policing, whether that surveillance and policing comes from administration or external enforcement agencies,” Perez told the Campus Times. 

UR hosts squash ProAm tournament with top 100 professionals

The event was part of the Professional Squash Association’s (PSA) Challenger’s Tour and notably featured two of the world’s top 100 players, #82 ranked Nasir Iqbal of Pakistan and Egypt’s Khaled Labib, ranked #99.

From Mourning to Fear: How the Hijacking of Social Justice Changed my Campus Experience

Promoting such incendiary language under the guise of social justice does a disservice to the cause of peace and dangerously normalizes incitement to violence.