Drew Bille Chats Running Career and Recent Venture in Podcasting

Podcast Episode: Anchor, Apple, Spotify

There’s a long standing history of excellence in athletics for the Elk County Catholic Crusaders. With state contending teams in nearly all sports on a consistent basis, it’s an elite school tucked away in the Pennsylvania Wilds.

(Photos courtesy of St. Bonaventure Athletics)

The school has become a small factory for college athletics as many athletes continue or have continued to find their stride in the college ranks. Literally, 2015 Elk County Catholic graduate Drew Bille found his by running at nearby St. Bonaventure University.

The Crusader to Bonnie pipeline is a familiar one, something that Bille loved to be a part of. From his time as a Division I athlete to games in the student section, and even social time with friends and teammates, Bille’s college experience helped him gain clarity on what he’d like to do for his career and also that he needed to crank his dedication to college overall up another notch.

As a high schooler Bille became an eight time letter winner between cross-country and track and field. He would be selected as a Lee Foster Memorial Award winner, a Christian Warrior Award recipient, and he became a captain of both the cross-country and track and field program. He qualified for the state meets in both sports, finishing 32nd overall as a senior in the state cross-country meet held in Hershey.

At St. Bonaventure, he would go on to become a multiple time letter winner and had the chance to run in races all over the east coast, including his favorite stop in his college career in New York City.

Crazy enough, a career in running was something a bit unexpected as he was looking for a fall sport to compete in going into middle school. With convincing from his classmate and former Mount Aloysius Mountie baseball player, Dan Singer, Bille tried out his luck as a distance runner and truly never looked back.

Bille earned a degree in sociology and currently serves as a Parent Support Specialist at New Directions in Buffalo, New York. This comes after around two years working for the County of Elk. 

In his free time, Bille has recently started a podcast called The Drew Bille Show in which he interviews athletes from around the Elk County area as well as shares his opinions about the NFL and sports gambling.

Drew’s story is easy to look at and think it was perfect, but truly, the St. Marys native grew in many ways over his time in college. He became more focused on his studies, planning for a career, and understanding that sometimes life has unexpected things in store for us. Injuries were something he never faced till college, but it was the adversity he unfortunately needed to overcome to become a stronger and more self aware individual.

What I think is important is to realize each of us have things we go through in life. We aren’t all the same person we were as high schoolers as we are now. And thank goodness for that. Life is a lot about trial and error and figuring out who we are and what we need to be fulfilled. For Drew Bille, helping children and families and talking sports with his friends help him to live a happy life. Drew isn’t the same kid I knew growing up and I have seen incredible growth from him in many areas over the years. 

Thank you for allowing me to share about much of your journey, Drew! Best of luck as you continue your podcast 🏃🏻