From Pool to Portal: DIII Student Athletes Apply Athletic Discipline to Cutting Edge Mayo Clinic Research
Four St. Olaf College student athletes spent their summer trading the structured environment of competition for the rigorous demands of research, completing intensive internships at the prestigious Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota. Working across fields ranging from esophageal cancer and neuroscience to biostatistics and addiction disorders, these four Division III students leveraged the discipline, teamwork, and resilience developed through their sports to excel in a world-class medical setting.
Paige Steenblock, a Class of 2026 women’s swimmer and a biology major on the pre-med track, dedicated her two month internship in the thoracic surgery department to esophageal cancer research and clinical shadowing.
“I’ve always loved medicine, and I’ve been obsessed with surgery for as long as I can remember,” Steenblock says. “Getting to intern in a surgical department and have that exposure to actual practice has done nothing but reinforce my passion for this work, and instilled in me the confidence to pursue a career in this field.”
She was particularly struck by Mayo’s collaborative approach to patient care. “I’ve loved getting to see the ins and outs of how doctors interact with patients, the role of empathy, and making sure that patients are fully educated on all of their options—the patient is really central to the process of their own healing here,” she notes. Steenblock found Mayo’s teamwork based approach familiar, saying, “It felt familiar, just a different setting.”
Her long days began before dawn with a swim or lift session before she headed to the hospital for research, mentor shadowing with thoracic surgeon K. Robert Shen, and study sessions. Steenblock credits her swimming schedule and her struggle with dyslexia for building the necessary work ethic.
“I’m used to having a busy schedule with swimming,” she says. “I’m also dyslexic, so academics didn’t always come easy to me in high school, and I learned that if I wanted good grades, it required a lot of extra time and effort on my part.”
That work ethic is reinforced by her team. “The swim team has a lot of very academically motivated people, and so after practice and dinner a whole group of us will go to the library,” she explains. “It keeps me accountable in a way, as we all have a set routine, and I know I will be doing school work with my friends at a specific time. That work ethic translates directly to other things.”
Statistics in Action
Fellow swimmer Rachael Olson, a mathematics major also in the Class of 2026, translated her academic focus into biostatistics research on ovarian cancer under the guidance of Associate Professor Stacey J. Winham ’07. Her project investigated how a prior breast cancer diagnosis might affect survival outcomes for women subsequently diagnosed with ovarian cancer.
“My research project looked at how a previous diagnosis of breast cancer can actually have a slightly positive impact on the prognosis of an individual who subsequently has ovarian cancer,” Olson explains. “The data shows that those people typically live a little longer than those who have not had breast cancer.”
For Olson, the real power of the internship came from seeing her data analysis connect to the human experience. “I’ve been studying patient data all summer, and I enjoyed exercising the knowledge I’ve gained through my statistics and data science concentration, but the most powerful moment came when I saw what those numbers mean in real time,” she says. “I shadowed a cardiologist, gynecologist, and breast oncologist over the summer, and being able to watch them get results back, make a diagnosis, and deliver the news—it was just really surreal to see the work in action.”
Olson’s swimming mindset—”I get to go to practice, I get to be on a team”—translated directly to the intensity of her internship. “In athletics, you’re supposed to take the opportunity you get and run with it, and that’s something that’s drilled into us here as well,” she notes.
Integrity and Purpose in Research
For Marjan Veldic, a Class of 2027 chemistry major and captain of the men’s tennis team, the summer involved researching the neurological underpinnings of addiction disorders. He found that the values cultivated on the court—integrity and empathy—were essential in the lab.
“We want to alleviate human suffering,” Veldic says, explaining his purpose. “Addiction is not a choice, it is not somebody’s fault—it’s a disease that people suffer from. Our work is about uncovering the neurological underpinnings of addiction and associated psychiatric disorders.”
His motivation is fueled by the desire to improve care and reduce stigma. “It’s really a passion for me,” Veldic explained. “There’s nothing I’d rather be doing than discovering something that will help someone in pain.”
He credits tennis with preparing him for the responsibilities of the research environment. “Two extremely important things I’ve gained through tennis are empathy and integrity,” he says. “In matches, you learn to win and lose with grace, and because the sport is often self officiated, you learn the importance of honesty in every call. Those same values guide me in my research—I always approach the work with fairness, humility, and the awareness that my decisions have an impact beyond myself.”
The Intentional Mindset
Ashlyn Jore, a Class of 2026 biology and kinesiology major and a member of the Track and Field team, participated in a Summer Undergraduate Research Fellowship (SURF) studying breast cancer and mammary gland biology. Her success, she says, stemmed from the intentionality she developed through sports.
“A big thing for me is being intentional about what I’m doing, which is something I really developed through sports,” Jore says. “When I’m doing track, that means being aware of how I’m feeling, how I’m recovering, how I go about practice. The same goes for schoolwork—when do I get it done, the quality of how I get it done, and the effort I let myself put into it.”
Working independently on manuscript preparation and data analysis, Jore found the unstructured lab environment mirrored the self direction required in athletics. “I had to develop my own timeline and plan for how I wanted to go about my tasks,” she explains. She rejoined the track team after a break to regain the structure and challenge she missed. “Sports really taught me how to push outside my comfort zone,” she adds. “As athletes, we’re good at putting ourselves in uncomfortable positions and moving through it.”
Motivated by her experience and her work with aging adults and the Minnesota Timberwolves, Jore is now preparing for graduate school with the goal of earning a Ph.D. and eventually becoming an educator.
The experiences of these four student athletes at the Mayo Clinic prove that the habits of dedication, teamwork, and intentionality honed on the Division III playing field provide a powerful foundation for success in the demanding world of medical research.