Student-Athlete of the Week-Hailey Soriaga

People assume success in athletics has a great deal to do with motivation. Pre-game speeches, hype videos, viral sensations, and media-produced pre-game montages paired with music give people a sense that practicing and playing with a berserk mentality is what drives success. Athletes at the top of their sport understand it is not motivation but discipline that drives them to success. Being intrinsically motivated and detail-oriented in all they do, never cheating themselves or their teammates, and never being satisfied with where they are is what makes them special. Senior Pole Vaulter Hailey Soriaga has proven during her four years at Oswego East that she embodies all those traits, which is why she is this week’s Oswego East student-athlete of the week.

Hailey tried several sports in her youth but eventually focused on gymnastics and track. Hailey found success in gymnastics in USAG, AAU, and the Oswego Co-op when she entered high school. Her track career began in 7th grade, where she was a mid-distance runner and hurdler.

When she joined the track team at OE as a freshman, her gymnastics background was what inspired her coaches to convince her to try Pole Vault. “Although she is naturally athletic and has been able to pick up any sport that she attempts, gymnastics specifically helped with pole vaulting due to many years honing precise body control and timing required from gymnastics,” says Carlito Soriaga, Hailey’s father.

Head coach Steve Ideran and his staff saw someone with an athletic background in Hailey, and the personal drive to succeed. “Hailey's work ethic and natural general athletic ability meant she would be able to succeed in a variety of events in track and field,” says Steve. He goes on to say, “I think early on, Pole Vault was the right mix of something she was good at but was also a challenge to get better at. Her competitive nature and desire to improve led her to make big jumps from freshman to sophomore year, and again from sophomore to junior year.”

Hailey’s improvement over the past 3 years can easily be measured in numbers and accolades. As a freshman, she started the season clearing 7’0 and finished by clearing 9’0. As a sophomore, she set a personal record of 10’10, and by junior year she set the outdoor school record by clearing 11’3 inches (she is also the indoor record holder at 11’6 inches). Hailey earned honors as a 2x SPC All-Conference, 2X IHSA All-Sectional, a 2X State Qualifier Pole Vaulter, and earned All-State honors in 2023, placing 8th overall. For those who have been around and coached Hailey, her improvement and success are more indicative of the person she is rather than simply her natural ability.

Erik Aister, who was Hailey’s Pole Vaulting coach for her first 3 seasons and current Assistant Principal at Wheaton North High School, says Hailey, “is the most consistent athlete I’ve ever worked with.” He goes on to say, “She is obsessed with improving every day. In the three years that I worked with her, she never missed a day of training. Her work ethic and drive to improve have shown in the results on the track. However, her hallmark is that she is never satisfied. Even after an all-state finish at the state meet in May, Hailey walked off the track and told me that she wasn't satisfied.”

Hailey has become one of the top Pole Vaulters in the state and a team leader this season. “She has stepped into a leadership role this season as a captain and she understands that track truly is a team sport,” says Steve. He goes on to say, “Hailey works hard to support, cheer on, and learn about all the events in track from distance to throws to relays and everything else. She spent five hours last Friday night at the Batavia Distance Madness meet (a meet that she was not competing in) cheering on each of her distance teammates because of her love for our program and the sport as a whole. And she does this all while maintaining a laser focus on what she needs to do to compete at the highest level in her event. Her leadership is a model that embraces our team values of Purpose, Consistency, Growth, and Love.”

Success does not begin and end on the track for Hailey. With a 4.6 GPA and an athletic and academic scholarship to the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, Hailey is planning on majoring in Mechanical Engineering and intends to work on prosthetics when she enters the workforce. Hailey applies many of the same traits to school as she does to the track to find success, with her father Carlito saying, “As a student, she is hardworking and can self-manage, understanding how to prioritize all of the various responsibilities and activities.”
Her Intro to Engineering teacher, Gina Korczak, has not only seen what Hailey is capable of as a student but has watched her apply her knowledge in a competitive environment.

“Hailey is a fabulous student in my Honors Introduction to Engineering Design class,” says Gina. She goes on to say, “Not only is she dedicated, detail-oriented, and a great problem solver, but she is also tech-savvy and very creative. Hailey and her engineering design team recently won our Bright IDEA Engineering Design Competition here at OE, and they will be competing at the regional Illinois Design Educators Association's CAD/Design Competition at Waubonsee Community College next Friday, March 22. I am so impressed by Hailey and all of her hard work throughout our engineering project. She has truly demonstrated her strong work ethic over the past few weeks, and she has shown her commitment to completing a project and creating a product with her team that they are proud to call their own.”

The track team will rely on Hailey to score points and continue being a leader and example for her younger teammates, two tasks Hailey is more than ready to meet. For future Wolves, Hailey’s advice to them is concise and simple, saying, “Keep your personal goals in mind and don’t allow others to have too much influence over you.” Hailey has an opportunity to etch herself into the history books of Oswego East, and with history as a guide, there is no doubt she will do everything she can to put both her team and herself in the best position possible for success.