Nat ‘Your Friend’ Skoczenski: Senior Spotlight

Mauli Chopra ‘27 

Nat Skoczenski inches away from the finish line at the ‘24 Skyline Conference Championship. Photo by Luca Mesiti ‘27

The Race After XC Season: Graduation & Raccoons! 

Running into friends is great; running with friends is even better. Nat, ‘Your Friend’ Skoczenski, is graduating this year with a personal best time of 37:02 minutes. The men race 8ks (4.97 miles) while the women race 5ks (3.1 miles). A cross-country team must have at least five members to register a score and place in the team standings. This season, the men’s team consisted of two official runners, Nat and Noah Carey, and three ‘on-loan’ runners from the men’s basketball team: Aidan Morel, Thomas Matonti, and Gavin Wright. Nat is the only senior on the men’s team this year, and this was their first and final year running for Sarah Lawrence College. 

Finishing up the last race in the cross country season this year will be followed by another soon-to-be-completed race for Nat Skoczenski. College is often a slow and steady race, and Skoczenski’s is finally at the finish line. Their plans after graduating include “—pursuing a PhD in clinical psychology, but before then… who knows. Looking for jobs in research and patient care but maybe I’ll become a cheesemonger or kayaking instructor in the meantime.” 

Skoczenski is used to running around, whether on a race course or campus. Their involvement in academia and work kept them from adding ‘student-athlete’ onto their Sarah Lawrence hyphenate before senior year. They comment, “When I'm not running [for the men’s cross country team], I study child and adolescent clinical psychology…. On campus, I work in the SLAP Lab as a research assistant under Dr. Maia Pujara and as a peer health educator with Health & Wellness. I also work as an LGBT Youth worker/counselor and as a substitute teacher here in Bronxville!” They are a friendly face and even better cheerleader for the women’s cross-country team. A significant contribution Skoczenski has made to the team is not just with their race time but with their smiling, can-do attitude. Head Coach Tom Diliberto comments, “This season, Nat embodied the mantra of not giving up. They had plenty of setbacks and continued to fight until the last race.” 

When asked to recognize their biggest inspiration, the on-campus raccoons were given a shoutout. Skoczenski comments that the raccoons are “scrappy, resilient, and just real stand-up members of society.” There are similarities between Skoczenski and SLC raccoons, the biggest one being how well-loved they are by their peers. 

Skoczenski imparts some friendly advice for upcoming and continuing SLC athletes as he races towards graduation: "Engage in the community! Go to each other's meets/games! Go to whatever craft night is happening in the barb! Go to your team movie night! There is so much community out there for YOU at SLC!”