JOLIET — Auston Schellig loves to challenge himself.
"I'm just a pretty competitive person," Schellig recently told MTN Sports.
It doesn’t matter whether he’s running underneath the fall colors decorating Main Street in Joliet, or challenging his sister in speech, drama and debate.
"I mean, we both want to win state," he said.
Turns out, Schellig is as comfortable in the classroom as he is chasing his first cross country championship. Maybe more so, especially in chemistry.
See Auston's success story leading into Saturday's state cross country meet:
"I've always been fascinated by the process of making things," Schellig said.
His academic achievements are nothing short of extraordinary. Schellig scored a perfect 1520 on his PSAT, qualifying him for the National Merit Scholarship, then followed up with a perfect 36 on his ACT.
"For the PSAT, I didn't do a whole lot of studying. I took a practice test beforehand," he said.
The odds of achieving perfect scores on both tests are astronomically low. But for Schellig, this perfection wasn't random.
Kaleb Price, his cross country coach and English teacher, has witnessed Schellig's exceptional abilities firsthand.
"It can be daunting because I'm not the smartest person in the room. What he's helped me do is become a better teacher … to teach him the way that he needs at a much higher level, but also make sure all my other lessons are great," Price said.
During the COVID-19 pandemic, when a lot of students struggled with remote learning, Schellig decided to again challenge himself by learning to speak Mandarin Chinese.
"I just wanted something to do," he said.
When asked to translate a simple sentence about going to the store to get milk, he responded fluently: "我去商店买牛奶 (Wǒ qù shāngdiàn mǎi niúnǎi)."
Schellig has also won prestigious math competitions both regionally and statewide in Wyoming, adding to his impressive academic portfolio.
Planning to major in chemical engineering and currently considering Montana State University, he's also applying to his dream school — the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Regardless of where he lands, his goal is to continue running in college.
His high school athletic achievements are equally impressive. Schellig won a pair of state track titles for Joliet last season, taking the 1,600 and setting a Class B record in the 800.
Price doesn't hesitate when predicting Schellig's future impact.
"He's going to have a few patents, probably. He's going to revolutionize the engineering field. He's going to solve some problem, and I won't be surprised at all to see his name on that," Price said.
Thanks to his perpetually running curiosity.
"How do things exist? How do you change things in the world?" Schellig wonders.
