...Running cross country was one of the most memorable activities that I had during high school. I chose this sport because I needed an activity for me to stay in shape. For this reason, I picked this picture of my cross country team to represent my memory about it. Although there isn’t anything special about this picture, it has a lot of more meaning than you think. On the day of the race, I woke up with excitement as I couldn’t wait for the race to start. Still, I had to go to school on that day. Knowing that it was an important, I had to keep my body hydrated by drinking water throughout the whole day. During my last class, I was tingling excitement; meanwhile, every single minute felt like forever. When the bell rang, I immediately left the...
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...with running began. Besides volleyball, a few key events and the nature of my upbringing steered me toward running. This includes the privilege of being brought up on a farm, a basketball injury, and an exceptional cross country coach. Discovering a passion for running unveiled the bedrock of my personality. Growing up on a farm developed my work ethic. I have baled hay, rescued and nursed frostbitten calves, and yes, shoveled manure on Christmas Eve. Being raised in such a home, with parents who juggle the demanding responsibilities of medical practices with the farm, has taught me the importance of respect, lending a helping hand, accepting the natural course of life through birth and death, and working hard to put the needs of the farm before my own. Working hard has not only allowed me to push myself in academics but in athletics, as...
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...“I missed it by a blink of an eye. In less than half a second, I lost what I had fought so hard to gain for nearly five months,” explains Rachel Strons as she opens up about her arduous journey to becoming a varsity cross country and track star. In the fall of 2010, Rachel began her journey as a long-distance runner. Walking into her first practice, she didn’t even know what cross country had in store for her, or even how good she would be. Encouraged by her friends to join the team, Rachel was about to meet the true runner that she was. “My grade school coach had us all line up in a straight line across the 10-yard-line and told us that we were to run as fast as our legs could take us to the other side of the field. Let me told you, I was incredibly nervous.” The very first run of Rachel Strons’s career was a race to see who was the fastest on the team, and she believed that she was not going to be that person. Runners ranging from fifth to eighth grade took their positions as the coach began to shout, “Ready. Set.” Before he could shout “go”, Rachel’s heart began to pound in her chest and her legs froze where she stood. She lost all hope of leaving the 10-yard-line....
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...“ And 7th grade girls second place goes to… Lincoln Junior High school.” Yelled the announcer. We all jumped up and started cheering. It was almost at this moment when we started to notice that the only way we would win was if we worked together. From that point on we stuck together as a team and nothing could tear us apart. After my experience of cross country I started to notice how I had not only grown as a runner but also as a person. I had learned a lot of important life skills such as being able to work with others during both practice and meets, and also to be a leader. We all huddled together and got ready for practice. It was the first day of 8th grade cross country and we were all super excited. All though I was slightly...
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...has suffered through failure time and time again. He ends up in McFarland, a poor farming community north of Bakersfield, Calif., where the high school principal reminds him he is running out of options. White takes the job as physical education teacher and assistant football coach. His wife (Maria Bello) and two daughters reluctantly join him in moving into a modest McFarland bungalow whose previous occupant has left a Virgin of Guadalupe mural on an interior wall (Kenneth Turan LA Times). The Whites' neighbor at their new home offers them a housewarming gift—a chicken. White quickly clashes with the head football coach and loses his assistant coaching slot. During a gym class, his students (all Latino, seemingly all of Mexican heritage) are less than motivated. But when White gets them to finally run some laps, he notices that a few of the boys are pretty speedy. California's high school sports governing body has just created the state's first cross-country championship. White thinks McFarland could form a team. All it takes is a minimum of seven runners, some shoes, and some cheap uniforms. "Cross country—that's a private school sport," the principal says. "They breathe different air than we do."(Johnny Dodd, People.com) White forms the team, but now he faces the difficulty of explaining the cross country's tangled team scoring system, where the low score prevails. Just like golf, the coach tells his team. "Do we...
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...of my life in running cross-country. The morning practices every weekday during the summer, the speed workouts on the track, the distance runs that never seem to end, all these have become part of my life. Without cross-country, I would have never been able to find out how much potential I have. Cross-country has allowed me to break down barriers and achieve goals I never dreamed possible. Because of cross-country, I have learned time management, leadership, and how to have a positive mentality. Cross-country has allowed me to meet people who I would have never even known. As an older member of the team, I am a role model for the younger members. As a result, I make sure to include younger girls on the team, whether it be by inviting them out to breakfast after a summer practice or including them in the conversation during warm-ups. I also give pep talks to my teammates before races to help calm their nerves. I have become a better leader due to my involvement in cross-country, which will benefit me as a nurse. Cross-country requires dedication in order to be successful. I have had to stay in on Friday nights instead of going to football games because the bus leaves at 4:30 the next morning for a meet. Because I had to wake up at 6:15 the next morning for practice, I could not stay out late on summer nights....
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...“They say hard work pays off. I learned this by putting one foot in front of the other. Through cross country and track I have developed a strong work ethic and the mental fortitude to never give in, no matter how hot or cold the weather is or how tired or sore I am. When I first started track, I was a sprinter, but I decided to go out for cross country the following fall because my brother was a successful distance runner. Although I’m not as good as he is, it has shaped me into who I am today. Unfortunately, my high hopes for my senior season of cross country were crushed when I learned I might not be able to compete at all. It all started in June 2010. Staying upfront with the varsity girls, I was doing pretty well. Then one day I felt a pull in my left knee. I ignored it, thinking it was all in my head. But all through the next week it still hurt and got worse. Then, during a workout one day, I reached out my leg and felt a snap. Immediately, I fell to the ground, unable to put any weight on my knee. I went to the doctor later that day; only to find out I overused my patella tendon. Even now, I cringe when thinking about it. He told me there was a good chance I would not be able to compete that season, which had just begun. Feeling my throat tighten, I looked away so he wouldn’t see me cry. Determined to compete before the end of my final cross country season, I wasn’t willing to let this injury slow me down. First my coach had me start speed walking. I felt...
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...I started running competitively since the 8th grade, roughly 6 years. The six years that I have ran is relatively short compared to some of my teammates that have been running for 10+ years. However, throughout these six years I have matured very much. On the very first day of practice I remember that we only had to run straight to a tree for practice and while it was only a couple hundred feet away, I threw up immediately after as I had not run in a few years prior to the practice. I was very embarrassed as that happened right in front of teammates and my coach, I had no idea what to do but everyone on the team took care of each other and therefore took care of me when I had needed it in that very moment. At that very moment when everyone was...
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...My senior year of cross country, I was hit with the realization that this year would be my last chance to earn a spot on our varsity team. With a team reaching near one hundred runners, the competitive nature of the program is not like many others, there is always another person challenging you to take your spot. This development pushed me to train every day through the summer, regardless of the Texas heat, which often reached the mid-eighties or nineties in the mornings in order to reach my aspiration of participating in varsity athletics. Every morning, I struggled with rolling out of bed at the crack of dawn to exhaust my body in these extreme temperatures of summer to further tax my body through training. I constantly had to tell myself what was at stake, I had gone my entire high school cross country career without the experience of competing with the top runners, and this year was my final shot to exceed past boundaries in order to earn this chance. Surprise filled many of my teammates as I gained speed out of what appeared to be...
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...I began running cross country in the summer between my freshman and sophomore year of high school. I started running as a way to stay active and as a stress relieving mechanism from the pressures of school. However, to my surprise, I quickly developed a love for the sport and enjoyed being part of something larger than myself. Running soon became the highlight of my high school experience. Being on the team taught me a significant amount about sportsmanship and the fundamentals of training. As a result I became a better runner and person. This all came to an end once I broke my foot my senior year of high school. The meet I had been looking forward to the most throughout my senior year was an annual race my school hosted called Jungle Run....
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...impossible for a sixteen year old girl. I thought, “Why not go for it?” As a varsity cross country runner, I am no stranger to running. An athlete’s contradictory love-hate relationship with running strains the mind and body like no other. I ran this race for myself; I knew if I followed this through and completed it I could do anything. Elon will push my limits, however, I believe I am well equipped to not only succeed but thrive. I live by the phrase “To be outstanding, you must become comfortable with being uncomfortable.” I constantly seek new challenges to push myself beyond normal bounds. I wanted to achieve something extraordinary. So I started training,...
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...A definition of myself. A seventeen year old female athlete in high school. That is what anyone walking down the street would say, but that random person walking down the street is not writing this essay. So, I am going to start over. A definition of myself. I am temperamental, I get aggressive, I tend to trust easier than I should, I forgive too easily, I am almost always angry, the glass tends to be half empty, I throw fits, my words tend to be venom, and I do not know who I am. I cannot pinpoint where I fit into society and what my purpose is. I do know that I am an aggressive teenage girl that runs Cross Country and Track, I am a girl that sings in my school's choir, I am a girl that tapes and bandages together wounded athlete in my school's athletic activities, I am a girl that enjoys listening to music so loudly that people have to repeat themselves at least twice before I can form a coherent sentence in my head, and I am a girl that is still trying to form a cohesive definition of myself....
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...During my sophomore year, I was the state champion in cross country. I decided that I wanted to win again my junior year. During my junior season, I was running faster than ever. Five weeks before the state meet, I felt pain in my foot. I pushed through the pain and raced that weekend. However, after the race I couldn’t even walk. Later that night I found out that I had a stress fracture in my foot. I had worked months for this season and in one day my world turned upside down and I hit rock bottom. When I went to the doctors, they told me that I had a stress fracture and that I could not walk with the condition my foot was in. They also told me that it would take about six weeks to heal. My state meet was five weeks away and I was determined to heal quickly to help my team win a trophy at state. The next...
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...It was quite Monday in spring, a normal day but for me and my team it was a big day. It was the day we started training for the important race; the race decide which track team was the best in the city. My teammates are, George, Aron and Dylan. We have been working hard because we lost the championship last year it would be good for us to come out this year and win the championship. The teams that we are going against are good their coaches are pro coaches they know what they are doing that’s a big Adventist for them. I'm the fastest on my team and all my teammates are depending on me to win the championship, for the first time. I am scare because I have never had this much responsibility on me I don’t want to let my teammates down, there's also going to be a lot of D1 schools there offering scholarship I'm hoping that I can get an offer because my parents don’t really have a lot money to pay for my university that would help a lot. Two days before the big race I forgot my lunch at home I had nothing to eat at lunch, then I walked pass my track coach Mr. Daniel, I think he knew that I didn’t had a lunch so he came up to me with some food in his hands and he said to me this food is for you all you have to do is beat one Elijah Woods, I was really scare because Elijah is a national Sprinter but I really wanted that food so I race him and I ended up beating him. I was really excited I wasn’t even hungry again I just couldn’t wait to go home and tell my mom that I just beat a...
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...When I was little I loved running, I still do. The wind hitting your face, the whooshing sound in your ear, it’s amazing. I honestly thought I was blessed with super speed like the Flash for many years in my childhood. So, when my Tio Danny saw my passion for running, he began to go running with me on hiking trails and at his school. He would even sign me up for mini races at Lincoln High School when I was about 5 years old. Every time he would ask my mom to take me out, I would explode with joy. I would feel so happy and excited. Running was probably one reason I became so competitive. So, when my elementary school announced, “We will be beginning a Track and Field team, coached my Mr. Rivera and Ms. Lopez”, I was ecstatic. It was a dream...
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