Student Athlete Spotlight: Haley Schweppe, Junior, Montesano High School

Published 1:30 am Saturday, April 25, 2026

Editor’s Note: The Daily World has launched a new segment to our sports section highlighting local student-athletes in an informative Q&A format for our readers.

Parents: Todd and Tiffany Schweppe

Sports Participation: Soccer and Track & Field

G.P.A.: 3.80

Haley Schweppe is a girl on a mission, and the home stretch of the track and field season is coming up fast. She slowed down enough to talk while announcing a middle school track meet at Montesano High School for her mom Tiffany, the Montesano High School Head Track & Field Coach. She has three sisters that have run or are running track at MHS. Her older sister Samantha runs for St. Martin’s University specializing in the 10,000 meter run.

As a freshman Schweppe went top four at state in the 800 and 1600 meter runs, and then as a sophomore burst on the scene and ran away with the 1A Cross Country State Championship. Later in the spring she broke the school record in the 800 on her way to third place in state in that same event. She has her sights set on the top step of the podium for the 800 and 1600 meter events this year.

She is the ASB President at MHS and loves it but wants someone else to take the reins next year. She doesn’t know how to do anything at less than full speed. She is both insightful and decisive on how she plans to meet her goals. She speaks quickly and directly and with no stalling words like “umm” or “ahh” while deciding what to say or how to answer. It’s almost as if everything she is doing right now feels like it is on the stopwatch. First time onlookers frequently say something akin to “that girl runs like a deer,” and it’s true, she is so fluid her feet seem to barely touch the track.

Today she is competing at the 36th Annual Eason Track & Field Invitational in Snohomish where competitors are primarily from large schools and there are minimum time requirements to enter. Haley Schweppe wants to see exactly where she’s at on her quest…

The Daily World: Some people might wonder why you stopped running cross country after winning the title. Why did you start playing soccer this last fall?

Haley Schweppe: I had always played soccer growing up and I really liked it and thought it was fun. After winning state I was thinking how I missed it and wanted to play it again. I’m glad I did.

TDW: What is your favorite academic subject, and why?

Schweppe: English, because of the reading, but I’m not a big reader so it’s kind of weird, actually.

TDW: You just reset your school record in the 800 meters with a time of 2:17.30 and that was a goal of yours. So what’s your next goal, and how do you get there?

Schweppe: I want to run a sub 2:14 in the 800. I think running in warmer weather will help and then I have to run my actual splits correctly. I ran a 63 second first lap on that and it was too fast and hurt my last lap finish.

TDW: What do you think is the most important thing for you in order for to be the best runner you can be?

Schweppe: Eating. I have to eat so much more than I would out of season. I mean, I burn so much at practice and then even more when I race. Sometimes it feels like all I’m doing is eating for fuel.

TDW: That leads me to the next question, what is your favorite food?

Schweppe: Steak. I love steak. And for carb loading I love pasta with white sauce, no red sauce, no red sauce.

TDW: You excel at sports and school, which one is harder for you to be great at, and why?

Schweppe: School, definitely, because sometimes I have a hard time of just staying focused. I’ll get an assignment and I can’t seem to just sit down and do it right then. I have a lot of energy and can get hyper a little bit.

TDW: If you aren’t playing soccer or running or studying, what are you doing?

Schweppe: I’m usually just hanging out with my friends. I just got a cat named “Bagel” so I spend a lot of time with her.

TDW: You run a lot and that’s an understatement, and you train and train and train, do you sleep well during track season?

Schweppe: I do not. I sleep better away from track season. I think too much about what I need to do, what the plan is, and I just need to get my mind to slow down.

TDW: What do you think is the number one thing you need to work on right now to win a state championship in any of your events?

Schweppe: My mental game. Last year I’d get out there and even though I knew what splits to run I’d be all over the place, and when I hit PR’s (Personal Records) it would be lucky because I wasn’t hitting them the way I should. I struggle with that.

TDW: At the distances you run, isn’t that the name of the game? I mean, isn’t that what everyone is trying to do?

Schweppe: For sure. It’s the hardest thing. I’m a lot stronger now in everything and getting a better feel on splits, and I think I can do it.

TDW: You have three sisters, all of you are runners and your mom is the head track coach, how does that work at home?

Schweppe: There’s definitely a lot of running talk, all the time, you can count on it.

TDW: Where do you see yourself five years from now? What’s going on?

Schweppe: It should be about my last year of college so hopefully I’m student teaching and getting in my hours because I want to be a first grade teacher.

TDW: Good luck in Snohomish.

Schweppe: You’re welcome. Thank you, Go ‘Dogs!