McHenry Times

Big Division 1 athletic programs often see players who were stars in high school having diminished roles, as was the case with Illini softball outfielder Veronica Ruelius, who after starting all four seasons at Marengo Community High School, did not see the playing field at all in 2016.

"It was very frustrating at first, but after talking with my family and my support system they were able to lighten my spirits," Ruelius told the McHenry Times. "I was really able to soak in freshman year softball from a different perspective than people usually do, and I appreciated everything that the coaches and my teammates were able to offer me. I was able to grow as a player and as a person by listening and encouraging my teammates instead of making it onto the field."

Illinois outfielder Veronica Ruelius | University of Illinois Athletics

Ruelius was a star at Marengo Community, batting .519 with a 1.108 slugging percentage. In her high school career, she had 166 hits, 155 RBIs, 32 home runs and 61 walks. She was all-area first team three times (2013-15), twice all-state first team (2014-15) and three times all-conference (2013-15).

Ruelius also played travel ball for the Northern lllinois Lightning, which she says helped her a lot in preparing for the college game.

"I had already been committed to Illinois by then but it did keep me in shape and able to keep working for that next season," she said. "Northern Illinois Lightning is a great program. The head of the program, John Radtke, does everything he can to progress the program by bringing in strength coaches to utilizing past D1 players as coaches. It was extremely beneficial and I am glad to be a part of that team."

Of the 23 players on the Illini roster, 14 of them are from the state of Illinois. While many of those wanted to play for Illinois since they were little, Ruelius says her college choice was far from a given.

"I have grown up in Illinois my entire life and usually, that ends with 'I grew up watching the fighting Illini on TV' or 'I went to all the games growing up,'" she said. "Quite honestly, I didn't even know what U of I was until I came down for a camp with my high school team as a rising senior. I had no idea where I was going to end up going to school. In September, one of the coaches asked me to come down for an unofficial visit so I got the campus tour. I really just fell in love with the community feeling of the campus. Everything on campus is just so beautiful, and I continue to find something more beautiful each time I walk around the U of I."

While most would think that Ruelius would be looking forward to getting playing time next season, she has a more supportive, team-first attitude.

"I am really looking forward to meeting the new team," she said. "Last season I was able to watch people exponentially grow in skill and power, and I am excited to watch that happen even more this year. The coaches really worked hard to make sure we were exceeding our capabilities on and off the field. There are great things in store for the 2016-2017 team and I am very excited to see how everything unfolds this year."