When it comes to versatility and achievement, few can measure up to Rachel Knapp Viel. She was the unquestioned leader of the Augustana cross country and track & field programs during the early and mid-1990’s. An incredibly durable competitor, she was equally successful whether it was on cross country courses in the fall or the track surfaces in the spring.
The consummate leader, she also had the knack of making her teammates better, as evidenced by the fact that she was a member of three College Conference of Illinois & Wisconsin championship teams in track & field and two in cross country. She served as team captain for both the cross country and track & field teams as a senior.
Rachel Knapp was all about success. She did it in athletic competition and she did it in the classroom. A two time Academic All-American selection by the College Sports Information Directors of America, she was also the winner of the prestigious NCAA Postgraduate Scholarship. Following her senior year in 1995 she was selected as the state of Illinois’ “Woman of the Year” by the NCAA and that encompassed all divisions.
While the individual national title she won at the 1995 NCAA Division III indoor national meet over 800 meters was probably her crowning achievement, it by no means was her only significant accomplishment. You can’t look at the Augustana record book in women’s track & field or cross country without seeing her name on nearly every page.
From her freshman year in cross country when she placed sixth in the College Conference of Illinois & Wisconsin to help lead her team to the conference championship, it was obvious that she would leave her mark on the Vikings program. She won the CCIW individual title in cross country the next three years, leading her team to the conference championship as a senior in 1994.
Three years in a row she finished in the top 10 in the NCAA Division III Midwest Regional meet to qualify for the national meet. Knapp won the Midwest Regional title in 1994 and went on to earn All-American honors with a seventh place finish in the national meet.
She also won the Illinois Small College state meet twice (1993 and 1994) and she still has the second fastest time in school cross country history over 5,000 meters with a clocking of 17:58 in 1994.
When she switched to track & field, success followed her there as well. She won a total of eight individual CCIW titles in her career, including the 800 and the 3000 for three consecutive years. During her junior season of 1994 she won the 800, 1500 and 3000 in the conference meet and then repeated that feat again as a senior in 1995. She was named the CCIW’s Most Outstanding Performer as a senior. She set conference records in the 800 and 1500 that year as well.
She was a five-time NCAA Division III All-American in track & field, placing fourth in the indoor meet in the 800 in 1994 and eighth in the outdoor meet later that year. Besides winning the national title at the indoor meet in the 800 in 1995, she was second in the outdoor meet in 1995 in both the 800 (2:11.70) and the 1500 (4:37.70).
During her career she qualified for national competition a total of 12 times. At one time she held school records in five individual and two relay events indoors and two individual and three relays outdoors. To this day she holds the outdoor school record in the 800 and indoor marks in the 800 and mile.
A Phi Beta Kappa selection during her senior year at Augustana, she earned her Master’s degree in physical therapy at Washington University in 1997. She is currently a physical therapist at Orthopedic Rehab Specialists for the last nine years. Rachel and her husband Adam live in Rockford, Illinois and are the parents of two daughters, May (five) and Anna (three).
The native of Pecatonica, Illinois, Knapp had this to say about her Augustana experience. “Augustana was an awesome place to be a student-athlete. It was a fun and nurturing environment where I was allowed to achieve all of my academic and athletic goals while making friends for a lifetime.”
