Story by-Lenny Reich, Mount Union Sports Information

Aurelia Incristi has been named Ohio Athletic Conference Scholar Athlete of the Month and to describe her journey to and time at Mount Union would be described as “the long and the short of it.”

One of the long parts of the journey would include the nearly 1,200 miles from her hometown in the Dallas, Texas, suburb of Rockwall to Alliance, Ohio. Part of the decision to make that long trek was made in short due to a family connection to Mount Union in her godfather and uncle John Nussbaumer ‘75.

“I have actually known about Mount Union since I was in elementary school because my godfather went here and played football back in the 1970’s,” explained Incristi. “When I was recruited by the Mount Union swimming coaches; I looked into the Biochemistry major because I knew I wanted to pursue a career in medicine.”

Another long part of the journey has been hours of study and research at Mount Union that has resulted in a 4.0 grade point average for the junior.

“Mount Union has a fantastic pre-med program that has ample support from professors and the health coaching program allows students to get to work with patients at neighboring Aultman Alliance Community Hospital,” stated Incristi. “I currently work with Dr. Keith Miller in a research lab in the Biochemistry department and my research focuses on immunotherapeutic treatments for cancer, which is essentially using your own immune system to fight cancer.”

The short part of the journey comes in the pool where Incristi won fastest event -- the OAC 50-meter freestyle title in 2019 -- which made her the first Mount Union female swimmer in 17 years to that.

“It was honestly shocking, I kept looking at the scoreboard because I didn't believe it. I never expected to win. In fact, while I was racing, I thought I was losing because I could not see anyone next to me,” said Incristi. “My time was also much faster than I had gone before and only 0.07 seconds off of our school record, so that was a win for me personally to be able to drop that much time.”

In total she has seven all-conference performances in the two OAC championship meets she has participated in and head coach Eric Mojock describes her versatility.

“We try and figure out where she can be the most impactful but once we put her on the sprints she has made a huge impact individually and all of our relays, said Mojock. “Just to see her drops in times and progress has been great to see.”

The coach also thinks that several qualities have served her well both in and out of the pool.

“She is very passionate, very organized and very analytical. She understands that results come from hard work.”

So how does this journey continue for Incristi after Mount Union?

“I plan to attend medical school and then work in nonprofit medicine treating patients in underserved areas and from different ethnic/cultural backgrounds, which is why I also chose to have a Spanish minor. I really have a passion for providing healthcare to those who might not otherwise receive it.”

The way things have gone for Incristi so far expect it to be a short time for long continued success.