Sophie Curatilo started her senior year at Moanalua without any clue what to do for college.

After a trip to visit his daughter, Na Menehune track and field coach Dexter Akamine brought back a T-shirt from Seattle University and gave it to Curatilo, one of his top runners at the time.

"I remember taking it and thinking, ‘Huh, I guess I should just apply to Seattle since I got a shirt for it,’ " she recalled. "Thank God I did."

Curatilo has turned that application into a full-ride scholarship to Seattle, where on Saturday she finished runner-up in the Western Athletic Conference Women’s Cross Country Championships.

Curatilo, now a senior, helped the Redhawks win their first-ever WAC championship in cross country and will compete in the NCAA West Regional a week from Friday in Stanford, Calif.

"Going in, I knew I was going to place high, but I didn’t think I would be able to get second," Curatilo said. "The girl who won was a full minute ahead of the field. It was hands down she was going to win.

"That wasn’t the question, the question was who was going to get second."

It ended up being Curatilo, who had won two cross country races in a row, including the Emerald City Open on Oct. 24, when she set a course record, finishing in 21 minutes, 42 seconds.

Curatilo runs year-round for the Redhawks, competing in both indoor and outdoor track and field in addition to cross country.

She’s also involved full time in the school’s ROTC program, which is how she earned her scholarship, in addition to her daily nursing classes as she pursues her degree.

A typical day for Curatilo begins with a 4:30 wake-up call, followed by four hours of ROTC duties.

She then has class for most of the day before a two- to three-hour practice session that runs until 6 p.m.

By the time she eats and gets all of her homework done, she has four or five hours to sleep before getting up and starting it all over again.

"The thing is, I obviously have to do nursing and ROTC, but if I were to take running out of my life, I don’t think I would be able to function," Curatilo said. "It forces you to exercise and that’s awesome. Even though you’re tired, you’re in such a better mood. Otherwise I’d be so grumpy all of the time."

Running also gives Curatilo a way to escape the rest of her commitments. Running isn’t just a sport for her to compete in. It’s a way to test her, to keep her focused on the rest of her duties, and to allow her to fulfill all of her obligations.

"I feel almost guilty going through the day being comfortable or elated all of the time, like I need to push myself at least once a day or else it has no purpose," she said. "I think honestly, running is about accepting that you’re going to be in pain and you’re going to be uncomfortable.

"I learned to accept that and I think the more you learn to accept it the faster you get."

The pain doesn’t just come from the running.

Going to school in the Pacific Northwest has forced Curatilo to learn how to run in less than ideal weather conditions.

At least once in her career she has run in sub-zero temperatures.

No matter what the weather has been, Curatilo says she has never had a practice canceled in four years because of the conditions.

"My coach is obsessed with it, to the point that even if there is thunder and lightning or there’s a storm passing through and trees are flying everywhere, we are going to finish our run," Curatilo said. "I was running outside once and it was so cold that I had to have my friends pluck icicles off of my eyelashes because my eyes were getting stuck together.

"I remember thinking I can’t believe people can live like this."

If uncomfortable is what Curatilo was looking for, she most certainly got it running for Seattle.

But she wouldn’t have changed any of it for a second.

"I still feel like I’m the luckiest girl in the world," Curatilo said. "I had never been to Washington — in fact I had only been to the mainland a couple of times. This school turned out to be perfect for me and this experience is something that I will never forget for my entire life."

It’s all thanks to a T-shirt from a high school track and field coach.

"If it wasn’t for Coach Dex, I don’t think I would have ever run in high school much less in college," she said. "He’s like an uncle to me."