Olivia Young, Unionville Junior
NXN NE REGIONAL AND CHAMPIONSHIP JOURNAL
The NXN Northeast Regional Race: Going into the Regional race, we all had Oregon on our minds. Many of our parents had already booked tickets to Nationals and we knew we had to perform well in order to qualify. I really liked the Regionals course- it was very hilly, but in a different way than the Hershey course. Almost the entire first half of the race is uphill, but after the 2.5k mark, it is all downhill. Kacie and I got boxed in for the first 1200 of the race but by the mile we had moved up into around 15th place. I tried to push up the hill, and then give it all up the second half of race. I ended up in 5th place and I was very excited because that meant I would have qualified individually for NXN. Once again, it was a close race between us and Pennsbury, but we were glad to have two girls’ teams representing PA at Nationals!
Team intro at Nike Cross Nationals (photo by Don Rich)
THE TRIP TO OREGON… Once I figured out what to pack and how to get my suitcase shut, our trip to Oregon was fairly uneventful. Still, it was a busy day and it took us over 12 hours of traveling before we arrived at the hotel (on the way home however, the trip took 23 hours, including a LONG layover in Arizona due to the snowstorm).
Thursday: On Thursday, we went to the Nike headquarters. Nike called each team into the auditorium one by one to see our personalized lockers and get all our gear (we loved all the pink and neon!).The Nike employees told us we had the unofficial best photo for our Hunger Games themed “Girls on Fire” picture. Later that day, we were allowed into the top-secret shoe designing building and the athlete’s lounge. During our run, we saw Jordan Hasay with her coach Alberto Salazar running a workout!!
Friday: On Friday, we visited Portland Meadows (the horse track where the race is run) for the first time. It was extremely cold outside and a light layer of snow covered the entire course, but they assured us the snow would be removed by race day. Friday night, we all took ice baths. We took turns racing back and forth from the ice machine to fill the bath with tons of ice. Between the really loud music and all the laughs, it was the most fun ice bath I have ever taken.
Saturday: Saturday morning, I was extremely nervous for the race (I threw up twice before the race). The girls were running first so we got to the course early. The morning flew by and soon, we were stepping on the line about to race. After the race, we were able to enjoy ourselves and cheer on the Henderson team in the boy’s race. Everyone was relieved that the race was finally over, the pressure was off, and we could look forward to the dance on Saturday night. Luke Puskedra sat with us at dinner to talk about his running career. We also got to meet Kara Goucher, who was sitting at the table nearby! We all wanted to enjoy our final night in Portland; the entire experience was fantastic and Nike treated us like royalty.
Post-NXN race team pic
The Race: As expected the race went out very fast, and I wanted to make sure I wasn’t stuck in the back. I got out fairly fast and then tried to move up the entire race, especially on the flat straightaways. The hay bales were a little higher than the ones we had practiced on, but I was still able to get over them without a problem. The whoop-de-woos were surprisingly fun – they didn’t even feel like hills because the momentum as you went down one just pushed you up the next incline. The ground was frozen and the footing was very uneven in some places despite Nike’s best efforts. The entire field of runners was amazing and I was happy with my 42nd place finish. As a team we had hoped to be higher up in the results, but we gave it our all and I couldn’t ask for a better group of girls to call my teammates.
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Summer Training: This summer was some of the best training we have done yet. My teammates and I were all really committed to having a great season. My mileage stayed about the same, but we were more focused on doing all the little things like strength and core work.
Season Highlight: Winning the team state championship was the highlight of the season because we have been dreaming about it for so long. The Pennsbury girls are great competitors and both teams left everything out on the course. Once we finished, we knew it was a close race and no one wanted to celebrate until we knew for sure that we had won. All of our hard work paid off once we were crowned State Champs; regionals and nationals were only the icing on the cake.
Team Goals: Our goals grew steadily higher throughout the season. In June, we set goals to win states and qualify for Nike Nationals. After our big invitationals at McQuaid and Manhattan, we had much higher expectations for Nationals and we knew we could compete with some of the best.
Shout-Outs: Shout-outs to Anne Birkenmaier and Abby Dorrell, who have since graduated, but should be credited with a lot of our success. They are some of the best teammates and leaders that anyone could ask for. Even though they couldn’t be there in person, they gave me some of the best pre-race pep talks over the phone before states! Also thanks so much to Jared Murphy, another former teammate, and his brother for driving 14 hours to cheer us on!! And lastly, thanks to Coach Scott and all our parents for flying out to Oregon to support us. And of course to Coach Lac: we couldn’t have done it without you!
Olivia Young's Athlete Profile
Unionville junior Olivia Young consisently ran #2 for the PA State Champs,
and was a very strong 42nd in NXN; here locking up 2nd overall at the PIAA D1 race.
