Ellie: Yeah, so I guess my background so I was a student at Purdue University, and I ran cross country and track at Purdue with my identical twin sister, which was a phenomenal experience. And growing up, my coaches and running really shaped my life. So I guess moving out here, I wasn't around that running crowd anymore, but I was able to get connected with the Sheridan high school cross country team. So I've become a volunteer coach there, and being able to help the kids in a smaller community has been really fulfilling. There's not as many women coaches within even intercollegiate and high school athletics scene, so it's been really fun to be able to be a positive influence, to even the boys and the girls on the Sheridan high school team, and kind of become a community member within the Sheridan town. 

Nancy: That's wonderful. Do you have what kinds of things do you do with with the team? What kinds of things do you do as a volunteer coach?

Ellie: Yeah, so I go to practice about three times a week, and I'll help mentor the girls with, you know, pushing through mental anxieties of racing, having just positive self talk, which will benefit them within their running, but then also in their professional life. So it's really cool to be able to give advice that I've learned throughout the years with running and my work. On Mondays, we'll typically do mountain runs, which coming from Indiana, there's a lot of corn. So it's awesome that, you know, I can get off work here and go run on the top of a mountain with the team and the girls and I feel like the bus ride there and the runs, I feel like really create a close knit bond within the team, which has been really fun to be a part of. Sometimes they'd go to the Buffalo side and they'll pick me up outside Bombgaars, so I'll run across the street and get on the school bus with the team, which is really fun. And then we typically would do about two workouts a week, so I'd run with the girls and help cheer them on, and I'd give them high fives. I'd run in front of them, and I'd stick my hand out, so they'd have to catch up to get a high five to help keep them on pace. But it's been just trying to be a fun, positive member of the team and have that contribution.

Nancy: Yeah, I love that. That does sound you're like you're fulfilling exactly the thing that you're setting out to do. It seems like you'd be a great person to have, like, an influence on young people. So my last question is, how long, first, how long have you been in Wyoming?

Ellie: I've been in Wyoming for about three years. 

Nancy: Okay,so what is your sense of Wyoming as a place and a community?

Ellie: Yeah, I love how close knit the communities are. So I mean, people in Sheridan, buffalo, even Casey, they all know each other, and they all do what they can to help each other out. I know when the wildfires happened last year, just seeing the outpour of just community, just working together to help get livestock off the mountain and help ranchers in whatever way they could, it was like, almost like, would tear up when I would hear just people offering to help and do what they can to help each other. That's one of the things I love about out here.

Note: The transcript above has been condensed from its original audio recording to improve the flow and readability of the story.