Excellence Through The Pressure: Gracie Munk’s Legacy Journey at NAU

Before she could even walk, Gracie Munk embarked on her swim journey. 

As with any great journey, the beginning was simple but impactful: with Mommy & Me lessons being her first exposure to the pool and club competitions as early as eight years old, sparking her long-lasting interest and dedication to the sport.

Swimming has been nothing short of influential in Munk’s life. She has learned confidence but also humility. Munk explained that through swimming, you begin “learning how to carry yourself, learning how to lose with your head held high, but also how to win while staying humbled.”

Other lessons learned and skills taught included: time management, dedication, and loyalty. However, community building was one that undoubtedly stuck out to Munk.

Community is nothing new to Munk, as she is an NAU legacy student whose parents are both NAU alumni. The connection does not stop there, as she had other family friends who also attended the university, including Annie Carlton, a former NAU swimmer. 

Munk grew up with a Lumberjack community and influence around her. When asked if her legacy influenced her decision, she explained, “I do think that both my parents going here kind of influenced me, but in a positive way, just because I've always heard such great things about NAU.”

This community and positivity only expanded when she began her own journey. Through the good and the bad, she found comfort in the environment around her at NAU. This support system was what helped her through what she described as an often unseen challenge of college athletics - pressure. 

“It's not necessarily anyone's fault, it's just being in this atmosphere of amazing athletes, everyone wants the same thing; everyone's working so hard, everyone's worked their whole life to get here.”

This is closely tied to the importance of mental health and a strong support system within athletics, which she found was a huge asset within the athletic department. She discussed the support she has from her coaches, her academic advisor, Darian D'Antuono, and the Director of Sport Psychology, Dr. Hannah Levy. 

Some may think high pressure only comes from the transition from high school to college, but Munk highlighted that the transition from underclassmen to upperclassmen brought about a great deal of pressure as well. The safety net of having those to look up to goes away, and the expectation is to step into a leadership role. This is where she found her support system crucial:

“I want to say it's so helpful to have the support system that we do in NAU Athletics,” Munk explains, finding value in the guidance the staff have provided her throughout her career.

While the challenges are ever-present in collegiate athletics, Munk has had nothing less than good experiences and moments with NAU swimming and diving. Too many to name just one.

It is safe to say that Munk is the take-it-all-in type. She sees excellence through the pressure. Many may ask what you would change about your journey, but she would not change a thing.

Her advice as she concludes her NAU journey: “Don’t wish away any moments.”

There’s no argument that the pressure is high for NAU swimming and diving. With the recent conference change, this season brought about new challenges and a need for mentality shifts: 

“Just kind of having that mentality switch: we aren't the winners yet. Each year's a different team, and each year we have different competitors,” Munk explained, highlighting the change in mentality following a difficult beginning to the season.

With the team’s known reputation on the line and the legacy of the program being the root of the motivation stepping into the MPSF conference, Gracie stated, “It was hard to realize we are not the winners, we have to earn this legacy. We have to, not only do it for ourselves and our team, but for our teammates and our alumni.”

Legacy. A legacy student, a legacy program, but as Munk said, “Legacies aren't inherited, they're earned.”

Gracie Munk,

Swimming before she could walk.

Through the pressure and the challenges.

Her legacy has been earned.