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Princeton University Athletics
Track Champ Looking For Matching Football Title
October 22, 2002 | Football
Oct. 22, 2002
from Princeton Athletic News, 10/19/02
"Patrick Schottel is an outstanding athlete. He has speed, size and great athletic ability. I think he's a very capable football player, and I enjoy watching him play."
Those are the words Princeton track coach Fred Samara used to describe Schottel, a senior wide receiver on the football team. Then again, what would you expect Samara to say about the second leg of his 4x100-meter relay team?
Schottel, a two-time Heptagonal champion on the track team at Princeton, is now in his fourth season with the Tigers' football squad. At 6-3, 195 pounds, he's not only one of the fastest receivers but he's also one of the biggest receivers in the Ivy League.
In Week 3, Schottel pulled in his second-career touchdown, a 50-yard strike against Columbia, the same team he scored his first touchdown against. In fact, the score was on the same field, in the same end zone and at just about the same spot. His first collegiate touchdown was a 49-yard reception. The score came at a pivotal time for the Tigers, who used the touchdown to earn a 35-32 win in the Ivy League opener. Instead of trailing 14-7 going into halftime, Schottel's reception, which was made in the middle of a pack of players as time expired, earned his team a 14-14 tie. More importantly, it shifted momentum towards the Tigers' sideline.
Schottel is not concerned with personal stats or accolades. He knows his function on the team and just wants to win.
"My role is pretty much the same as it has been the last three years," says Schottel. "I'm in there to block, to give Chisom [Opara] a rest, and when there needs to be an extra receiver on the field, that's me. It's part of winning. I think our team is starting to come together and we're finally figuring out what it takes to win."
It's always been about teamwork and winning with Schottel. A three-sports star at Roseville Area High School in Roseville, Minn., Schottel played football and basketball and ran sprints for the track team. It's no coincidence that he and teammate Paul Simbi are both two-sport athletes at Princeton; it's what they were taught to do.
"Our high school football coach encouraged us to be athletes," says Schottel. "He was not only the football coach but also the JV basketball coach and a track assistant. The linemen on our football team had to throw for the track team."
It was track that actually brought Schottel to Princeton. Although he directed the football team at quarterback and made all-conference and captained all three sports, he felt that running was his forte. Well, running and science.
Both of his parents are science teachers. His father is an earth science teacher at Minnehaha Academy in Minneapolis, and his mother is a molecular biology professor at the University of Minnesota. Raised by scientists, Schottel could not escape, nor would he want to, scientific repartee, even at the dinner the table.
"I used to go to my mom's lab and play for hours," says Schottel. "She told me that she loved it and knew that I would too."
A chemistry major, Schottel spent much of last summer researching Eukaryotic Protein Ferritin for his thesis paper. Studying biochemistry has intensified his fondness for chemistry and science, and in the next few weeks, he'll be taking the MCAT for admission to medical school.
"Patrick is an incredibly dedicated and conscientious student, " says Samara. "Last season, he may not have performed at his top level at the Heptagonal championships because he wanted to do such a good job on his junior paper. He really does a fantastic job with academics and has his priorities straight."
It was Samara who found and recruited Schottel, who also expressed interest in playing football. Samara passed along his tapes to the football coaches and they were more than interested in his speed and size. After moving almost immediately from quarterback to wide receiver, he averaged 11.1 yards per catch.
Still, it was on the track that Schottel made the most noise. A member of the 4x100 relay team that won the high school state championship and set a Minnesota record his senior year at Roseville, Schottel has earned first-team All-Ivy honors and Heptagonal championships with the track team at Princeton.
"While at Princeton, I would have to say that my biggest athletic accomplishments have been in track," says Schottel. "Winning the triple crown (all three Heptagonal championships) my freshman year was really something special."
The transition from football to track and back to football hasn't been easy either. Each of the past two years Schottel entered track with lingering injuries from football. He has spent a lot of time in the weight room to get stronger and plans to be ready for this senior campaign on the track. Right now, however, he is in the heart of the 2002 football schedule and is cautious to pick a favorite.
"I enjoy both sports," says Schottel. "Football and track are very different, and I enjoy different things from each sport. I love the team camaraderie with football and the feeling after a big win. Winning a Heps championship is also something that really can't be described."
For now, football is the focus with the Tigers standing 1-0 in the Ivy League. Getting to .500 is the first goal, beating Harvard and Yale and having a big bonfire is another. At the top of the list, however, is that elusive Ivy title and championship ring.
by Tom Milajecki