Abington Heights senior Tessa Barrett qualified for states in XC as a freshman and sophomore, and after an eye-opening 17:58 at the 2012 Tennett Invitatonal, she looked destined to challange for a state AAA title. But a mud-fest at the District 2 meet led to an injury, and the opportunity was lost. She bounced back in indoor with a solo 10:02 3k in February. Her 3000 at PTFCA champs was an epic battle with Courtney Smith and Regan Rome - one she ultimately won in a state record 9:47.73. She would go on to take 4th at the Penn Relays 3000 in 9:40, and then 2nd (to Smith) in another battle at outdoor states, going 10:25 for 3200 meters. This year she opened with a stunning 17:26 at Cliff Robbins, and then not only won the Gold Race at PIAA Foundation, but set the course record for the Poop-Out Hill layout in 17:48. And then she followed in the recent spike-prints of Neely Spence and Angel Piccirillo, winning the Foot Locker Northeast Regional.
Indoor:
Entry#6 3/19 | Entry #7 3/30 |
Cross Country:
Entry #1 10/8 | Entry #2 10/17 | Entry #3 11/11 | Entry #4 12/4 | Entry #5 12/29
Tessa Barrett
SR. Abington Heights HS, PA
Journal Entry #1 (October 8, 2013)
College visits and disappointment at Lehigh
Hello Everyone!
My name is Tessa Barrett, and I am a senior runner for Abington Heights High School. I live in the Northeastern part of the state, which is surrounded by mountains, rural roads and beautiful state parks with lots of nice trails!
This summer, I really took advantage of running on these trails by traveling to local parks a few times a week. I tried to remain off the pavement for most of the summer because I really wanted to train my body to run efficiently on uneven terrain. I also cross-trained and weight lifted more often.
The start of cross country seemed to come very quickly this year, and it is somewhat bittersweet as it is my last year of high school cross country. My team’s first race this season was all the way back in August, the Cliff Robbins Invitational in Dallas, PA. For three of my teammates and I, it was our fourth year running the course and also our last time. I was excited for my final race on the Letterkenny fields, and also to see where my fitness level was for the start of the season. I won the race, and actually set my cross country 5k PR, which was a nice surprise. Both AHXC girls’ and boys’ team ran wonderfully for the first race of the season, and everyone felt good which is always the most important!
The rest of September, my team and I continued to build a good training base for the season. Not too many workouts, just distance and tempo runs, as well as dual meets.
We ran our second invitational at Hershey on September 22nd. Leading up to the race, I had been feeling a little under the weather with a stomach bug, so I was a little nervous before the race. Luckily, I felt better the day of the meet, and I was able to compete and wound up running a PR on the course and getting the course record.
(Photo Courtesy of Coach Rob Ahrens) (From L-R, Lauren Kuchinski, Erin Jaeger, Sarah Walsh, Coach Ahrens, Jen Burke, Me, Carly Danoski, Aly Garbin, Catherine Simakaski, Claire Traweek)
My teammates also ran well at the meet; a few of them PR'd on the course and for some, it was their first time experiencing the "Poop-Out Hill"course. Overall, it was a good day for the team. Congrats again AHXC! The PIAA Foundation Meet is always a great opportunity for us to preview the state course in order to evaluate how we are progressing so far in the season, and where we can continue to make improvements.
As of now, I have currently made 3 official visits to colleges: Penn State, Cornell and Villanova. All three are amazing schools and I feel very blessed to have had the opportunity to meet the teams and get a taste of the college athlete lifestyle. The girls and the coaches have all been great hosts!
This past weekend, my teammates and I traveled to Lehigh University for the 40th Annual Paul Short Invitational. We were all looking forward to this meet; the course at Lehigh is very runner and spectator friendly, plus there is always good competition! Unfortunately, as we were walking the course, the race officials announced over the loudspeaker that the afternoon races were canceled due to excessive heat and humidity. The EMS services had shut the invitational down. It was a true disappointment, but as a team, we understood and respected the position the EMS services were in, and the potential dangers that would come with future races.
My training has been going along pretty well so far, and the goal is to just stay healthy and strong for the final weeks of the season and see what the post season brings!
I wish everyone luck with their final invitationals, league and district meets.
Run happy :)
Read about Tessa's challenges with a rare condition that threatened her running career
