Tears streamed down my face as I crossed the finish line of the Ohio State Cross Country meet. To the hundreds of spectators, I was just another runner who was sad about the season ending. For me, the tears were a representation of accomplishment, gratitude, and pride.
One year previous to that day, I had been ready to quit the one thing I loved to do most. Running had become more of a task instead of an opportunity. The feeling of not being “good enough” was present in my every action and thought. I resented myself for not accomplishing my goals. It was unhealthy, to say the least. Fast forward nine months and I am starting my senior year at a brand new school, in a different environment surrounded by people who believe in me and support me. This is where the gratitude is rooted.
The 2019 cross country season was a record breaking one from the moment it began. I say this because for the past few years, the program did not even have enough girls for a full team. But this year, seventeen girls signed up to run cross country.
I’ll be honest, we weren’t that close in the beginning. The best way to put it, we were all friendly with each other but no one was really friends. My initial focus as team captain was offering advice, giving rides, and being positive by encouraging everyone to do their best. It was good, but we weren’t unified. About halfway through the season, I decided to sit the girls down before practice one day and talk. It wasn’t anything special and there wasn’t anything wrong, but I knew how much better things could be. Here we had such a talented group of girls, but we weren’t doing the most we could with each other. That day I talked shortly about what it meant to be a good teammate, about the ridiculous amount of girl power that was present, and how we could use positivity to motivate and push the person who stood next to us. When we went out to the track for our workout that day, it was like a switch had been flipped. After every rep, the girls were yelling and cheering for their teammates. Things like “You are so strong!” and “You can do it, I believe in you!” quickly became common sayings. Positivity turned into a wildfire. Freshmen girls were taking ownership and feeling important. Soon, we started to joke about how the Madeira girls were going to qualify to state. The team was pretty good, but going to state sounded pretty lofty. Only the best four teams in the whole Southwest Ohio region got to go. And I mean c’mon… who were we? A team that one year ago, only had a couple girls running on it.
The post season came, and the jokes continued. But we were working hard and getting faster. With more team talks, the confidence grew. I encouraged the girls to verbalize this confidence. “Did you guys know we’re going to state?” and “Uhhh guys, I heard those Madeira girls have been working pretty hard lately…” were some of the statements being made. The district title was secured, as we beat the second place team by sixteen points. The day of regionals came, and the girls were ready. The team placed third in the region and qualified to state for the first time in nineteen years.
Through this experience, I have learned what it means to be a leader. I have gained a better understanding of who I am through challenges and have been able to instill a confidence and sense of pride in not only myself, but others as well. Crossing that finish line is something I’ll never forget, and I am so proud to have done it with Madeira across my chest.