It is not often that a wrong turn can lead in the right direction, but for Catie Hessler and her twin brother Brendan, that is exactly what happened.
"We were actually at a (high school) cross country meet in Orlando, and we ended up taking the north turnpike instead of south, and we ended up in DeLand," Catie Hessler said. "I have a neighbor that goes here, and my mom said, 'Let's go look at Stetson,' so we ended up looking around. Brendan and I both knew we wanted to run in college, so we contacted Coach Joe (Matuszczak) and we came back for another visit, and we just ended up falling in love with the school."
"Some of the athletes on the team will actually say that it was the little golden retriever puppy they met in the middle of campus that sealed the deal for them," head coach Joe Matuszczak said. "They seemed to love the school, love what the program had to offer, and one thing led to the next."
After Matuszczak made an official offer to both Hesslers, it was Catie that made her decision to attend first. However, Brendan was quick to follow.
"We are very close," Brendan Hessler said. "The schools I was deciding between were Stetson and Florida State, so to be four hours away from her would be kind of hard. I'm happy with my decision to be here and be only a five minute walk away from her."
The Hessler's parents, Ron and Sioban, were also pleased at Brendan and Catie's mutual decision to attend Stetson.
"Stetson was a good fit for a lot of reasons," Sioban Hessler said. "I think they really liked the community and the culture at Stetson. They were really looking for academic challenges. Coach Joe was wonderful and encouraging and they knew they'd have a good place on the team. They wanted to be part of a community that would be positive and where they would have a real good opportunity to run."
"The coaches have been great and the kids have been great," Ron Hessler said. "It's really good to see them have that experience."
Although only freshmen, Brendan and Catie have been valuable contributors to both the men's and women's cross country teams. They, and the rest of the Hatters, will compete one more time this fall at the Atlantic Sun Conference Championships on Oct. 30 in Jacksonville. Meanwhile, their coach is still excited over their "wrong turn" from a year ago.
"It was such a surprise to go from a mistake to a conversation to coming here," Matuszczak said. "And now we have results for them each and every week. It is not every day something just falls into place and that seemed to just fall into place, which is awesome."
