Flagstaff High School

Student Spotlight: Nora Kruse

Haven Carey

Nora Kruse is not only among the best of her Junior class at Flagstaff High School, but she is also a nationally recognized mountain biker. Her many feats serve as inspiration for her peers. Nora switched from BASIS to Flagstaff High School in her freshman year, because she wanted a more typical high school experience. She has successfully maintained her impressive academic and athletic achievements in the transition. She claims that her secret to success is focusing in class and caring about the material. Since her main interest resides in the STEM field, she is a TA in Mr. Salmon’s class because she, “didn’t want to have a year without math,” after she had already completed her math credits.

Kruse began biking with her family at a young age, but she began truly loving it in seventh grade. She began racing that year and is now on the varsity team. She has many achievements such as: winning the AZ state championship for both short track and cross country as well as scoring second in nationals in Virginia. Kruse enjoys the individual aspect of mountain biking in addition to feeling the connection to nature that the many hours training in the forest allows. After graduation, she is interested in pursuing mountain biking professionally, alongside a college education, although she is undecided as to where she intends to go. 

Some of her motivation comes from surrounding herself with accomplished, intelligent people. It encourages her to learn from them and improve. She balances her athletics, academics, and social life by managing how she spends her time. She claims that to avoid procrastination she forces herself to, “buckle down and do it.” Her family’s mutual interest in mountain biking allows for her to frequently spend time with them.