Salute To Seniors: Sarah Donaldson


School: Clear Falls High School

1. What was your most memorable race/moment?

At my senior Area meet, I wiped out in the 100 hurdles and destroyed my knees. Lining up for the 300 hurdles I couldn't even put my knee of the track to start in the blocks correctly. I advanced to Regionals despite everything seeming to work against me that day. 

2. Who would you consider your biggest competition over your four years?

My teammate Briana Garcia came in when I was a junior and quickly became one of the state's top hurdlers. She pushed me every single day to get better and taught me to fight for every single tenth of a second. 


3. What was your greatest accomplishment?

Becoming a 3-6A Regional finalist in the 300 Hurdles my senior year. 

4. If you could do it all over again what would you change about your running career in high school?

I played soccer and ran track and my soccer coach told me that soccer had to come first or I wouldn't be allowed to play. I would have left soccer behind to focus on track and allow myself to develop more. 

5. What were the most difficult obstacles you had to overcome?

I suffered a major concussion the day after my junior Area meet in a car crash. I spent two months completely sidelined and coming back to running was one of the most painful experiences I've ever been through. 

6. What will you miss the most?

I will miss the bond I've created with my teammates over the past four years. Whether they were with me for one or four years, we are all sisters and leaving them behind is really difficult. 

7. What advice would you give to younger athletes?

Never give up on your dreams. When I was a freshman, I had a coach who laughed at my dream of being a varsity hurdler because I was 5 feet tall. I did everything in my power to prove him wrong and eventually succeeded. 

8. What influence has your coach had with respect to your performance and overall life goals?

My sophomore year a new head coach came to out school and he changed my entire life. He pushed me to be a better all-around athlete and I owe him everything. Because of Coach A, I am able to continue my running career. 

9. What are your college plans?

I am committed to run track at SMU in Dallas while majoring in Biochemistry and completing a ROTC program. 

10. Who would you like to say 'thank you' to?

The people who never let me quit. Anthony Evans, Abel Almendariz, Kim Alvarez, Laura Clark, Rachel Boller, Briana Garcia, Ally and Sarah Godfrey, Phil Rich, Douglas Fletcher, and of course my parents. 

11. Is there anything else you'd like to add?

Know your coach always means well and at the end of the day cares about you and only wants to see you be better. 

12. What was the funniest thing that happened during your running career?

There was one meet we had been on rain delay so everything started really late. The meet was winding down and my coach sprung the 4x4 on me. We were warming up and I realized I wasn't wearing the relay spandex so I run back to our tent to try and find a pair. The only person that had some was already wearing them, and by this time the starter was already calling all relay teams to the starting line. So naturally the next step is to get two other girls to hold up a blanket so we can strip down and switch spandex because I don't have time to get to the bathroom before I need to be on the track. So I strip down and switch shorts while wearing my spikes behind a blanket in the corner of a dark track meet filled with people and then run straight to the starting line so we can start the race. We won the 4x4 and the meet.

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