What was your most memorable race?
The Region IV XC meet, by far. I finally broke 20 minutes in the 5k, and was the third place girl on my team, two things I almost never thought would happen. During almost every race, the first few minutes were filled with my most negative thoughts... I would think I started out too slow, too fast, I would stress that I wasn't exactly next to one or two specific girls, but at regionals I simply shut all those thoughts out. I remember thinking, I have one more chance to make it all count. So I relaxed and just went, and ended up having the best race of my life.
Who would you consider your biggest competition over your four years?
Freshman and sophomore years, I was just trying to make varsity. Junior year at the 4A level, we really strived to beat Cedar Park and Smithson Valley, and senior year at 5A, New Braunfels and Smithson Valley were definitely our biggest competition. We had some of the most talented individuals right in our own district, but overall we usually had the best standing as a whole team, so it was tough.
What was your greatest accomplishment?
What was your greatest accomplishment?
Freshman year, I was the last place girl on the last place team at my district meet, when I went to Leander High School. (I ran JV most of the season, but my coach let me run varsity at district simply because we had extra spots to fill.) Senior year, I was one of the top 5 that qualified my team to the state meet. I couldn't have asked for a greater, more transformative cross country experience. I accomplished a goal I never even knew I could have.
If you could do it all over again what would you change about your running career in high school?
If you could do it all over again what would you change about your running career in high school?
Running at Canyon my junior and senior years really opened my eyes to the world of competitive running. Part of me wishes I would have gotten to spend all 4 years at Canyon, but I suppose everything happens for a reason. I also wish I would have experimented more with my racing style...starting out faster or slower than normal, doing everything I could to stay with one other runner for as long as possible, eating something different or doing different stretches before a race, just to see how it would have worked for me. What were the most difficult obstacles you had to overcome?
This may sound odd, but I don't believe I'm exactly physically built for cross country. There's a picture of me and my team at Nike South my junior year, and comparatively, I look like a tall giant with huge calves and thigh muscles. I was never one that could just take a break for a week, and come back just as strong during workouts. I really, really had to work on long run endurance, and I had to keep a pretty strict schedule to keep up with my training. Senior year it became something I truly wanted to accomplish, so sacrifices fast food and some rest on weekends wasn't a big deal anymore.
What will you miss the most?
What will you miss the most?
The sense of accomplishment and empowerment. Every Wednesday we had a hard workout on the track, and I'd always wake up a little bit nervous, but every Wednesday was also a chance to accomplish something and push myself farther. The feeling after completing a 9 mile hilly long run is just indescribable. There's an irreplaceable sense of confidence and humbleness when you accomplish an incredible goal, like going to state or making the top 7; confidence because you finally made it, and humbleness because you know you never could have done it without your team and your coaches. I had never worked so hard for anything in my life, and that intensity and that something to dedicate myself to was amazing... I doubt I'll be that dedicated to something for a long time.
What advice you would give to younger athletes?
What advice you would give to younger athletes?
Enjoy every single emotion that comes along with the sport. The complete joy when you win, the sickening nervousness before the start, being absolutely dead and queasy after a hard race, the disappointment and humbleness after a loss, and most of all, the fun and hilarious memories you'll make with your team. I can tell you that I already miss every single one of those things. Waking up each morning with a goal is an incredible feeling. 
Being disappointed after a loss is a key experience, and only shows how much this sport means to you. So have as much fun as you can running in those crowded races with 400 people, soak in every ounce of excitement you feel when you step onto the line of the state meet, or run under the stadium lights at any night races. You're involved in a very intense sport, and you'll miss every little thing you hate about it now once it's done.
What influence has your coach had with respect to your performance and overall life goals?
Being disappointed after a loss is a key experience, and only shows how much this sport means to you. So have as much fun as you can running in those crowded races with 400 people, soak in every ounce of excitement you feel when you step onto the line of the state meet, or run under the stadium lights at any night races. You're involved in a very intense sport, and you'll miss every little thing you hate about it now once it's done. What influence has your coach had with respect to your performance and overall life goals?
My coach and I have an interesting relationship...we're complete opposites, and sometimes rub each other the wrong way. Still, my coach trained me into a respectable athlete who made it to state, and there's no way in a million years I would have gotten there if I wouldn't have had someone as tough as her constantly pushing me. Through Coach West, I saw that there was more than one way to get things done, and I gained a lot of respect for her more routined way of doing things. I learned little things everyday from Coach West that are applicable to day to day life... sometimes about team dynamic, sometimes about what to do when you're injured, and sometimes about just common sense things. Overall, Coach West and her cross country program taught me that I honestly could do anything...I'd just have to work my tail off to get there usually.
What are your college plans?
What are your college plans?
I'll be attending the University of Texas at Austin. It was big decision for me whether or not to run in college, and it came down to a choice between UT and Regis University, which offered me a cross country scholarship. In the end, I had to be honest with myself about my future and academics, and knew it would be a much better choice overall to go to a bigger university like UT. I knew in my heart that cross country had changed my life, and I had already accomplished so much on a personal level, going from JV freshman to state qualifying senior. I told myself, hey, if this is the end, I'll leave this sport with nothing but a fantastic experience and memories that have changed my life. I got everything I could have wanted and more out of cross country, and it felt like the right time to close this chapter of my life.
Who would you like to say thank you to?
Who would you like to say thank you to?
Oh gees...so many people! I'll see if I can go in order. Thank you to whatever or whoever inspired me to run cross country in the first place, because I honestly don't remember how this whole journey got started! Thank you to my middle school coach, Sarah McElvain, who was so supportive and sweet to all her runners. Thank you to Coach Youngblood for putting me on the 4x400 in 8th grade, and not being afraid of being tough on a middle schooler. Thank you Mom, for telling me I was an idiot for wanting to skip cross country my freshman year, and making me go to practices anyway. Thank you to Coach Lawson for inspiring a love of running in me my first two years in high school, for taking me to The Woodlands Friday Night Lights meet, and for telling me that one Tuesday after our workout that you knew I wanted to be on varsity so bad, and that I simply had to work for it to be there next year. Thank you Coach Heermans, for being such an enthusiastic and lovable coach and teacher. Thank you for also hugging me after my last meet at Leander my sophomore year, and making me promise that I would stick with running no matter where I went, that really stuck with me and I fully intended to keep that promise. Thank you Coach West, for giving me so many new opportunities in my last 2, and definitely most intense years of cross country. Also, in a way, I'd like to thank you for all the ways you made my life difficult... I only came out with more experience and more stories to tell. Thank you Coach Gamez for making me feel right at home on the Canyon track, and putting me as the anchor on the 4x400 my senior year, it really was one of the highlights of my season. Thank you Nolen, for giving me an entirely new perspective on what running meant to me, and life as a whole. You brought our team closer together, and were my inspiration during so many long runs and races. Thank you Ashtin, for being a leader I always inspired to be like. Thank you to my team...at times I couldn't stand some, or maybe most of you. Then again, sometimes I don't know what I would have done if each one of you hadn't been there at a different period of time.
Is there anything else you'd like to add?
In the end, trust yourself, have confidence in what you don't believe you can do, and above all...ENJOY everything the experience of cross country has to offer. Stay up until midnight when you have a long run in 6 hours. Eat too much ice cream one day before an after school practice. Don't be afraid to mess up too much... when you have a real passion for the sport, everything else will follow. As one of my best friend's college coach used to say to them before their races, "God put you on this earth for one reason...and running is not it."
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