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Question 1: What was your greatest moment while competing in high school? My greatest moment of high school competing would have to be winning my very first individual state title in the 3200 at indoor states this year. Making states individually was a goal of mine since sophomore year and I didn't get to accomplish that goal until senior year. It took me four years to get to where I am today and I couldn't have asked for a better way to end my high school career. I watched the leader board in the 6A 3200 all season and saw my name ranked first at the top of the list but didn't think I could win states until I ran at indoor regionals and won my first ever regional title. That was when I realized nothing was a dream any more and it was time to face reality and start believing in myself because what I once thought wasn't possible was turning into highly possible and that was winning states.
Question 2: What is your biggest regret ( related to T&F in high school) or what would you have done differently and why? This may not have been my biggest regret but definitely something I would have done differently is not getting out too fast and leading races from the gun. I would always get very eager and excited to race that the momentum would build within me and I would take off right from the gun and get to the front, which most of the time was counter to what Coach Connor had advised me to do. I would like to go back in time and change leading at the start all the time.
Question 3: What will you miss the most about HS T&F/ XC? I will definitely miss my coaches the most and how they always believed in me and never gave up on me when I didn't believe in myself. Also I will definitely miss training with the boys. It was so much fun to be challenged by them every workout this year because you never knew what they were feeling, I remember we would do 400 repeats and some of them would be dead on pace and others wouldn't and it would turn into a fun guessing game of who was going to hit right on pace. The boys team was always so supportive of me and every race that I ran they motivated me to prove myself to others.
Question 4: What is some advice from incoming frosh and rising seniors on your high school team that you would like to share with them? Some advice I would share with incoming freshman is don't let yourself get intimidated by the older kids on your team who have been running and competing longer than you have. Use them as role models and strive to be like them. Advice I would like to share with rising seniors is do not rush into making a college decision, take all the time you need and everything will work out. Take everything in your senior year and really have fun with it because you are ending an amaizing chapter of your life but you are about to start a new one. Soak in every moment with your friends and make all the memories that you can!!!
Question 5: What was the hardest workout you did your entire high school career? Did you like it or did you dread it? The hardest workout I did my entire high school career was senior year about a month before indoor states. It was (400,600,400,200) (400,200,400,600) (400,200,400,600) it was all at race pace. I remember when I did the last 600 I laid on the ground for about 5 minutes before getting up to do my cool down, but it was a really good work out. I dreaded doing it at first but I actually really liked it because it was more of a speed work out.
Question 6: How did you make track/XC a very individual sport into more of a team sport? Running track is individualized by the very nature of competing against the other runners in your heat and trying to achieve a PR. However, when it came time for the conference meet this year, my coaches asked me to give up my event in order to score points in another event. They knew we had enough depth in the 3200 to score 1-2 without me, so they put me in events that I don't usually run to help the team. Sacrificing a conference title for the team definitely made this meet in particular more of a team sport. We ended up winning the conference meet, so it was worth it in the end.
Question 7: Finally, what are your college plans? Will you be competing in college, where? What do you plan on studying? What do you have as career plans? My college plans include competing XC/ T&F at East Carolina University where I plan to study Exercise Physiology and minor in Psychology. After college I plan to attend grad school and get a doctorates in Physical Therapy which I hope to work with athletes in particular.
