Snyder runs her way to fame
This is the last in a series of articles profiling the 2022 inductees into the Butler Area School District Athletic Hall of Fame
WILLIAMSBURG, Va. — Her second Hall of Fame stop is her most fitting one.
Danica Snyder, a 2011 Butler High School graduate, was inducted into the Butler County Sports Hall of Fame in September for her exploits as a distance runner in high school, at Duquesne University and in the Butler Road Race.
At 6 p.m. Friday, she will be inducted into the Butler Area School Athletic Hall of Fame during a ceremony in the high school cafeteria.
“This one is special to me because that high school is where I developed my passion for running,” Snyder said. “It’s funny ... the year I move out of state, I get brought back for two Hall of Fame inductions.
“Its a great way to reconnect with family, friends, coaches ... It’s an exciting time.”
Snyder now lives in Williamsburg, Va. She graduated from Duquesne with a nursing degree and has a 5-year-old daughter.
“I was still into running when I was pregnant with her,” Snyder said. “My time is dedicated to my daughter now. She’s my world. But I’m not done with running just yet. I’ll get back to it.
“Running was my happy place. I miss it.”
Butler track and field coach Mike Seybert said Snyder “still has a good seven or eight years of high-quality running left in her. I’ll keep dogging her until she gets back at it,” he joked.
“I know he’s not going to leave me alone on that one,” Snyder said, laughing.
When it comes to her running career, she has a lot to smile about.
Snyder was part of back-to-back WPIAL track and field championship teams at Butler. She set Golden Tornado records of 5 minutes, 6.83 seconds in the 1,600 meters and 11:08.87 in the 3,200 meters. She ran a leg of Butler’s school record-setting 3,200 relay (9:21.02).
She won Butler’s Outstanding Freshman award in track, the Coaches Award and Cross Country Team MVP as a junior.
“I’m most proud of the record I set in the two-mile at Butler because it still stands,” Snyder said. “And so many great athletes come through that program year after year.”
At Duquesne, Snyder was part of back-to-back Atlantic 10 championship cross country teams. She set the Dukes’ record time of 10:1,.11 in the steeplechase in 2015. She set a record time of 9:55.89 at the Bucknell Team Challenge that same year.
Snyder placed eighth out of 98 runners in the 2014 Atlantic 10 championships.
“I enjoyed the team success as much as individual,” she said. “The back-to-back team championships in high school and college are something I’ll never forget.”
Snyder grew up in the same neighborhood as Seybert.
“She was in my neighborhood, we both went to Butler Catholic, both went to Duquesne,” the coach said. “I always joke that she’s out-done me at every stop. Danica was so goal-driven. She’d set a goal, then go get it.”
Snyder received the Donny Bayne Memorial Award as top Butler County female runner in the 5-mile Butler Road Race four straight years (2012-15). She was top finisher in the 2K in 2011. She also won the St. Barnabas 5k in 2011.
“Nobody was more eager or determined to succeed as a runner than Danica Snyder,” Seybert said. “She was a pleasure to coach.”
