Sophie Novak '21 Recruiting Profile

My past sophomore cross country season was a dream come true. I finished my season as league champion, regional champion, and an All-state runner coming in 5th place. This season taught me an important lesson which is to ‘trust the process.

I started off my season running times that were slower then what I ran them in freshman year. Granted, the conditions weren’t the same but it still discouraged me from the beginning because I wanted to start the season off with a bang and so far it wasn’t meeting my strict expectations for myself. I continued to train and work with my teammates but I was still not meeting the results that I desired out of myself. But my coach kept telling me to stay focused on the goal and the important races to come.

Things began to click at a race on a golf course where I ran several seconds faster than when I ran there last year along with beating people that I haven’t beaten all season. This was a tremendous confidence booster. I knew that from that point on things are going to be different and I was ready. This change came from when I was talking to my coach about adjusting my training schedule which helped a lot. From then on, I ran a fast time at leagues allowing me to win and gain the title of league champion along with finishing very well at regionals and becoming the champion there as well. I was always confident in myself but my hope for my desired season faltered, but because I trusted in my ability, my mindset ultimately changed in a way that pushed me to come in 5th place at my state meet (while I finished 28th as a freshman) with a new personal best of 18:01. 

I feel like I would be a strong asset to any team due to the fact that I am a hard worker and I am motivated to push myself to get the results that reach my goals. I practice and play hard, and I believe in giving my team, my coach, and my teachers my very best. I feel that if you give something all the effort you have, then you can’t be upset if you don’t get the results you want because I am a strong believer in trusting the process. I will give 150% of myself to you and your team. All I ask is that you believe in me and my abilities.