Freshman Annie Czajkowski fearless on the Course

Oct 13, 2022

At the start of each high school cross country season, incoming 8th graders must adjust from traditional middle school training and races to the rigor of high school XC.

This transition can be difficult for many runners, with the distance almost doubling from the previous season. Still, freshmen Annie Czajkowski of Norwin High School set higher expectations for her first high school cross-country season. Annie believes her success is due to the excellent coaching staff, teammates, and family atmosphere at Norwin High School. Annie described the experience as "a very large transition." She cited "a huge increase in mileage, better workouts for training, and a great team atmosphere as everyone puts the team in front of themselves."

Being a freshman doesn't bother Annie at all. It motivates her to know she has to race upperclassmen with more experience and races under their belt. "It makes me want to work because I am very competitive, " said Annie. "I look up to them and want to beat them, which pushes me further."

Annie's first high school race didn't go as planned, but she was able to use it as a learning experience to guide her over the remainder of the season. At the Marty Uher Invitational in September, Annie was in the top 15 with less than 600 yards to go and collapsed. "I blacked out and didn't finish the race. I pushed myself to the point where it did not end well. It was an eye-opening experience running in my first 5k race," she said.

Two weeks later, she placed second at the Blue Devil Invitational with a personal best of 18:58. Norwin head cross-country coach Brian Fleckenstein believes Annie is an exceptional runner with a lot of potential for a successful cross-country career.

"Annie is a competitor. She comes out to compete, and she has that innate desire to push herself and be comfortable being uncomfortable" said Fleckenstein, "I like how she's kept all that middle school competitiveness and has matured as a racer and grown in confidence."

When asked to describe Annie using one word, Coach Fleckenstein said "Fearless."

With the WPIAL XC Finals less than two weeks away, Annie has some personal and team goals that she would like to achieve on the PennWest California course on October 27th. "I would like to be in the top 15, run under 18:30, and it's the team's dream to make states this year. That pushes us all to run well at practice and meets."