Since I started my running career at Otterbein, I have had the goal to make it to nationals in cross country. It’s been one of those goals that I’ve had in the back of my mind since I was 17 and started here.
With the sport of cross country, your season is made during the summer. If you aren’t putting in the miles and working hard in the weight room, it will most definitely show during the season. By having the goal of making a national appearance, I knew what I needed to do in the summer; hard runs, long runs, hilly runs and a copious amount of time lifting and doing circuits.
It’s not only for me, but I feel that I need to do my part for the team. I cannot let them down by not pushing beyond my limits as an individual. During my hardest workouts in the summer, I had to think about how bad I wanted to be at nationals, and how bad it hurt that I was not there last year. Whenever I had a disappointing race, I would tell myself to ‘remember this feeling’, use it as fuel, and hopefully I will get a shot at redemption. My chance for redemption was at the Great Lakes Regional meet on November 10, 2012.
We drove up to the course in Anderson, Indiana on Friday, with the meet being on Saturday. As a team, we jogged most of the course and did some 50 meter starts to just get the legs moving and what I like to call, “getting the yayas out.” I tried to stay distracted and not get too nervous while I was there because it’s only wasted energy to be nervous at that time.
We left the course, changed back at the hotel, and headed to our dress up dinner at the school. I was lucky enough to have my family stay at the same hotel. When we got back, a few of the girls and I went to hang out with them and just told funny stories. This was way better than just sitting in my room thinking about the race the next day. My teammates were a great distraction.
The next morning, we got up and did a normal ‘shakeout run’ which just helps get our legs moving and helps our nerves. After, I ate and headed over to the course. The boys ran at 11 a.m. and we were at noon. I felt a sense of calmness right before the gun went off, knowing that it was going to be a great race. I ended up running a lifetime best by 43 seconds for the 6-kilometer race and ended up finishing in 11th-place overall.
To qualify for nationals as an individual, you need to be the top 7 after the team qualifiers are taken out. The first two teams automatically qualify and the next three are entered into an at-large bid, meaning the NCAA will look at their season and determine if they should get to go to nationals. I was the eigth individual with just the first two teams taken out, but Calvin, who was third, has been nationally ranked so I knew they would be taken, meaning I would be the sixth individual. They ended up taking the fourth team as well (Kenyon), meaning I took the fifth individual spot!
The national meet was an experience I will never forget. I was lucky enough in high school to make it to the state meet twice and there was no comparison to making it to nationals. The atmosphere was crazy and high energy. I raced against the best girls in the United States, and I happened to be one of them.
It wasn’t a rare occurrence to see 10 guys and girls painted in their schools mascot or have their teammate’s names written on them, with some of my teammates included! I have never been in a race so loud, and I have been running cross country since I was 5 years old.
Unfortunately, during the race, I didn’t feel as great as I did at the Regional meet or any race during the season. Once the gun went off, I just felt tired and sluggish. I didn’t place how I wanted but I wouldn’t take back the experience. There are so many girls that would do almost anything to get to the national meet and I was lucky to be one of them. With hard work, determination, drive and heart, anything can happen.
Bekah Reese
Columbus, Ohio
