Elk County Catholic senior Kennedy Weisner enters her final year of XC with a champion's resume. Her best year to date was last year as a junior when she won her first state cross country title - this one in the inaugural Class A Championship. Weisner also qualified for her first Foot Locker Nationals. During indoor, she was invited to her first Millrose Mile, and also to the Brooks PR meet, an elite gathering in the Northwest. She came back in outdoor to capture two state AA titles, winning the 800 and the 1600 - a very tough double. She began her final XC season at PTXC-5, setting a course record of 17:49.
Indoor/Outdoor:
Entry #6 4/21 | Entry #7 6/11 | Journal #8 7/8
Cross Country:
Entry #1 9/15 | Entry #2 10/4 | Entry #3 10/18 | Entry #4 10/30 | Entry #5 11/16 |
Kennedy Weisner
SR. Elk County Catholic HS, PA
Hi everyone! Sorry it has taken me so long to write this but the past two weeks have been absolutely crazy. So, let me start at the beginning of this very long story.
Going into the state meet I was feeling pretty good and thought that I was ready to run well. However, within the first half mile of the race, something felt kind of off. It felt like it was taking way too much effort to maintain the pace I was running. I actually like the Hershey course, and normally I enjoy the hills, but I could barely run up them.
I felt like I had no strength left in my legs. It was all I could do to finish the race, and I was so relieved when it was over. When I finished the race, I felt a sharp pain in my ankle. The pain was so severe, I could not do my cool down. As the day wore on, the pain subsided a bit, but later that night, my ankle swelled to the size of a small grape fruit.
Strangely though, I did not feel pain anymore.
The dads went to a new low at states when Lauryn's dad, Mr. Rob Wortman - the brains behind this covert operation - had the bright? idea of making t-shirts. All I can say is that this is the last time they will be appearing because they really need to move on to other venues! Hahaha.
But I must say that they provided quite the comical relief and I could never thank them enough for always being there for us and giving us something to smile and laugh about. We couldn't ask for better dads!
The following day I visited Georgetown, which I had been waiting to do since September! It was my first time in Washington, D.C., and it was nothing like I expected it to be! It was interesting how Georgetown is right in the city, but at the same time it feels like it is in its own little world. I went into the visit with the intention of having an open mind, but honestly I thought that I was simply going to solidify my decision to go to Villanova. Instead of making my decision easier, however, my visit to Georgetown made it much, much, much harder.
I stayed overnight in Kennedy Hall with one of my hosts, Sam Nadel. Sam, my other host Rachel Paul, and all of the other girls on the team were so nice and welcoming. They were all very focused and motivated to run not just for themselves, but to compete for each other and for Georgetown. As hard as I tried (and I tried pretty hard!), I could not find anything to dislike about Georgetown. When I got home, I felt like my head was spinning.
In the meantime, I went to the doctor because my mom wanted me to have my ankle checked because it was still kind of swollen. The week following Manhattan, I had twisted this same ankle pretty badly, and although it never swelled, I experienced some pain for a few days. At the time, I didn't think it was anything serious. When I got an x-ray, a spot showed up that the doctor thought might be a stress fracture. He thought that when I originally twisted my ankle it had put so much stress on the bone that it started fracturing it. He recommended that I take two weeks off from running to let it heal but said that swimming and biking would be okay. This was a bit stunning, but at the same time, it all made sense. Ever since I twisted my ankle I had been struggling a bit in workouts. When I ran both districts and states, I had felt so dead and run so poorly. My mom concluded that my body was trying so hard to mask the pain in my ankle that it had no energy left for running and it just shut down.
Despite all of this, I was still holding out hope that I would be able to run at Foot Locker regionals. I figured that I would be able to stay in decent enough shape through swimming and biking during my two weeks of no running and then just take a stab at Foot Locker and see what I could do.Within a few days of my Georgetown and doctor visits, my head finally started to clear. Everyone always says that when it comes to making the college decision, you just know. If you really just think about it, deep down inside you'll know where to go. I never really believed this, but now I know it is true. As much as I liked Villanova - the coach, the girls on the team, and the school itself - I feel like Georgetown is the right place for me. I am happy to announce that I will be a Hoya next year!! I am so excited for this wonderful opportunity; it is everything that I have always dreamed of. I loved the girls on the team, and I completely trust Coach Mike and Coach Stephens.
This actually leads to the next part of the story. When I told Coach Mike about my ankle, he thought that something was a little strange about the whole situation, and he suggested that I get a second opinion. He recommended a podiatrist in Philly, and this doctor was able to fit me in on Thursday afternoon. This doctor agreed that I definitely did have a stress fracture, presumably from when I twisted it. The good news was that it is now healing and it is unlikely that I should have any problems with it in the future after it heals. The bad news was that he really does not think that I should run on it until December 1. Seeing as regionals is on November 30, it is definitely out of the question now. I think that I half expected that to be the case, but it was still hard to swallow. I have been looking towards this race since January, and I based my entire season around this one race, so it is definitely more than a little disappointing.
Last year, Don Rich said that Foot Locker Nationals is a once in a lifetime opportunity, and for me it really was a once in a lifetime opportunity.
I think everything does happen for a reason, so the best thing I can do is make the most out of the situation. My birthday is actually on December 1, so I'll have a one mile run to look forward to that day, my first mile in almost a month!
As if this story isn't long enough already, since we were already in the Philadelphia area, we decided that it only made sense to watch my sister run regionals at Van Cortlandt Park on Friday. It was her last college cross country race ever, and she ran a pr! It was very exciting, and I was happy I was there to see it! She was on the line right next to Abbey D'Agostino, which was so cool. My friend Mary Malone was also there with her family to watch her sister, Margo, who runs for Syracuse. Margo placed eleventh and now her and her team are going to nationals!
I realize that this is more of a short novel than a journal entry, but I had a lot to say! I wish everyone running at Foot Locker and NXN Regionals lots of luck! Go show everyone what PA is made of!!!
Hoya Saxa (what rocks!) Kennedy
