What was your most memorable race?
The 1600 at Sartell on Friday, May 31st at our Section meet. It was my first time making it to state, I beat the girl behind me by .21 seconds to go. I also got a personal best and school record by 2 seconds.
What was your greatest accomplishment?
Getting the school record in the two mile. I think the two mile is by far the hardest race and it takes the most training and heart. I ended with an 11:15 and the old school record was 11:34.
If you could do it all over again what would you change about your running career in high school?
I wish I would have started running sooner. I just started running cross country and the mile and two mile my junior year.
What were the most difficult obstacles you had to overcome?
Definitely injury. My Junior year I was injured two weeks before the section meet and miss conference and sections. In track that same year I was injured the last week of the season. I was so thankful to be running healthy my senior year.
What will you miss the most?
I will miss my coaches and teammates more than anything. My coaches always believe in me and are the most encouraging and positive people I have ever met. Also, my teammates are the best, always supporting me and cheering each other on, it's been so great to be with such positive and friendly athletes the last four years.
What advice you would give to younger athletes?
Never waste a single moment. When practice gets hard, or when life gets hard take a step back and think about how high school and sports only last for a small part of your life. Try to enjoy the difficult and hard times because that's what makes it worth it.
What influence has your coach had with respect to your performance and overall life goals?
My distance coach is so smart and knows exactly how I need to race each race. At my last sections race I held back the first two laps and I think a lot of people were confused why I wasn't up front but my coach and I knew what I needed to do and it worked out exactly how we'd wanted it to. As far as over all in my life, Hines (my coach) has been such an inspiration. He always tells us to do our best in everything not just track. His favorite saying: "Even if you're just making a peanut butter sandwhich, you better make it the best peanut butter sandwhich you've ever made." He is such a nice guy and volunteers all of his time because of how much he loves track. I respect him so much and it's going to be so weird to not have him as a coach next year.
What are your college plans?
I will be attending St.Cloud State University to run Cross Country and Indoor and Outdoor Track. I also plan to major in Nursing.
Who would you like to say thank you to?
I would like to thank my parents. My Dad has a really tough work schedule and he hasn't missed a meet this year. My mom also comes to all the meets and they really support me in every aspect: School, track, and elsewhere. I love them to death and would have never been able to compete or be successful in athletics without them.
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Want to be featured in our Salute To Seniors series? Drop me a line: mntrackxc@gmail.com and answer the questions above! Congratulations to the class of 2013 on all of their hard work and success!