On September 2nd, I broke the home course record as a freshman against River Valley with a time of 21:34. I have been running track since I was around 4 years old in track club, and I joined the middle school track team in 7th grade.

I looked up to my older brothers, Justin Huss and William Huss, a lot. They inspired me to push to improve every day. Because I know how much I looked up to Justin and William in elementary school, I want to be a good role model for my younger brother, Wade Huss.

Entering high school, long distance was always my favorite, so I knew joining the cross country team was the right decision for me. Competition motivates me to improve, so I enjoy running with athletes who are more experienced than me during practices and meets. They help me by motivating me to reach my goals and improve myself as an athlete.

My objectives for the future of my cross country career is to be a good leader, unite the team, and encourage others like my family and coaches encourage me. I desire to make my family, coaches, team, and myself proud. I intend to attend college for track, cross country, or both. I also want to carry on the good reputation for my family set by my brothers before me.

The course against River Valley was a total of 3.1 miles, consisting of long stretches and a minimal amount of hills. I was challenged to start off with running a lap around the track, then going past the practice football field on the trail and making my way up pine tree hill, running on the other side of the practice football field and behind the press box, making a lap around the band field, going past the tennis courts on the trail and behind the soccer fields in the direction of grandview, running up the hill by the One Room SchoolHouse, and down pine tree hill. After completing that, I had to do that same course again and finish off with a lap around the track.

When I first stepped on the 100 meter starting point on the track was when I first felt the butterflies. Looking at my fellow competitors, I felt very nervous because I was a freshman and had never competed with them before. Although I had some nerves, I felt confident in myself. Making my way around the course, I kept a steady pace. Hills usually make me anxious during races because they’re tiring, but they weren’t as challenging on this course compared to other ones. I was the most tired coming down pine tree hill by the practice football field; this is where I gave my very best effort and sprinted because I knew that I would feel great once I finished the race.

During the meet against River Valley, my time was 21:34. In order to get this time and set the home course record, I trained daily. My distance training consists of long days, running a total of 11 miles, short days, running a total of 6 miles, and running 3.5 – 4 miles on weekends. I also have sprint days once a week that consist of various activities such as hills, 400 meter sprints, 800 meters, and other workouts on the track or a course. I was able to work my way up to running this many miles by participating in summer training and in season training. I also lift, do core workouts, stretch, have a healthy diet, and sleep well. My brothers, coaches, and dad help me plan out each workout. The best advice I can give is that hard work is what will lead you to be successful; whatever pain you feel in the process will pay off because it will all be worth it in the end.
​
Having a disciplined mindset and setting the goals that I have for myself is one of the main things that helped me get the time that I did at River Valley. The race showed me what a course feels like and exactly what it is, given that I had never competed in a cross country race before. Since then, I’ve become more confident in myself and I trust myself to overcome any obstacle thrown at me. However successful someone is, there’s always room for improvement, you just have to find the drive and motivation to improve. I would never be where I am today without other people encouraging me and supporting me with every thing that I do and accomplish. I am very grateful for my family, team, and coaches and excited for the future of the team.