Nike Cross Nationals Day 3 (Race Day)

Race day!! I was so excited for this race. An entire year of dreaming, visualizing and training all boiled down to today. Especially after a rough season of being a little bit sick and having to sit out varsity, I couldn't wait to get on the starting line. My team is hilarious and helped with the nerves a ton. I am so grateful for everyone who cheered me on this race! It meant the world to feel like I had an army behind me! Thank you! When the gun went off, I took off in a full out sprint through the mud for almost a full 400m. This was barely enough to get me into the front back. Our first mile was one of the fastest in NXN history coming through in 4:43. To my surprise, not many were faltered at this pace because it was such a talented group. After 2 miles the group thinned a little, but there was still a pretty massive front pack. With about 1k to go, I took the lead trying to outrun some of the guys in the group who I knew had phenomenal race kicks. However, right before the last 2 hills going into the finish Cole Sprout and Liam Anderson passed. I ended up finishing 5th in a time of 15:05. It wasn't the goal I was going for, but I put everything I had into that race and was proud of the effort. Also stoked to hopefully come back next year and do better.