Leah Cavazos '19 Recruiting Profile

Girls on the Run (GOTR) Chicago has influenced me since the third grade. This is an after school program for girls that teaches life skills through lessons and running games. At the end of this program, the girls complete a 5K running event. That is when I first started to run and loved it. After I left this program at the end of fifth grade, I continued to be a running buddy for other girls. Since, then I have run numerous 5Ks on my own or as a running buddy for GOTR, and I ran a half marathon with my older brother before he left for college. My biggest challenge so far was being chosen to run on my varsity high school team as a freshman and sophomore. My freshman year we won all conference as a team, and my sophomore year we came in second place. This past year, I really challenged myself and made all conference as an individual runner. Overall these years running, this is the year that I felt like I improved my running form and my stride. I also supported my teammates by encouraging and motivating them to do their best just as I would my GOTR running buddy.

I still have two great years ahead of me as a three sport athlete in high school to strive even harder and reach for my personal best academically and athletically. My goals in high school are to improve my personal record in running and to help my cross country team achieve more titles. Academically, I plan to graduate in the top ten percent of my class. At this time, I am also looking ahead to the future and would like to find a program that would further improve my personal best. I believe that I could run at a college level, plus I have determination, commitment and leadership skills that would benefit the right program for me. As they say on GOTR, “Girls on the Run is so much fun!” And I look forward to doing just that at a college level program!