Conquering Disappointment

During my 49 years of coaching cross country at the high school level, I have seen many athletes deal with a disappointing season. The following story shows a positive response to this situation.
 
Lauren joined the cross country program as a freshman. From the start, she showed the talent to be one of the best runners on the team and possibly one of the best distance runners in school history. She lettered her freshmen year and had a positive impact on her teammates. She joined the track team that spring and again proved to be our best 2-miler.
 
Lauren improved during her sophomore cross country season and became the number one runner on our team. Going into the spring track season, we had high hopes that she would  qualify for the State meet in the 2-mile. The indoor season went well, and when the outdoor season began, she showed the potential to make it to State.
 
Signs of trouble
 
As we approached the the important races at the end of the season, Lauren began to struggle. She just couldn’t keep up with runners in the lead.
 
We had two races left to qualify for the State meet. The first was the Regional Championship. Lauren had to finish in one of the top four places to qualify for the next level. She’d accomplished this as a freshman, so we felt she had an excellent chance to do it again as a sophomore.
 
At first the race was going as planned, but after the mile mark Lauren fell behind the lead pack again. She didn’t qualify for the next race, which meant she wouldn’t be running in the State meet. This was a crushing disappointment. It surprised everyone. When we talked the next day, Lauren could not explain what had happened. I encouraged her to attend the next race to support her teammates and said we would talk again in a few days.
 
After we talked, I was not sure how Lauren would respond to the summer training program we set up. I communicated with her a few times during the summer, and she told me she was following the workouts. I was still a little worried that in her upcoming junior year, she would let that last race discourage her from the challenge of doing her best.
 
Getting better all the time
 
Though our first week of cross country practice went well, I still didn’t know how Lauren would compete. When we ended that week of practice with our annual alumni race, Lauren put all my fears to rest. Not only did she win the race, she set a new school record for the 4,000 meter course (girls now race 5,000 meters). Afterward, Lauren told me she knew she was better than that difficult last track race, and she had worked hard all summer. During the rest of the year she lost only three times, and she finished sixth at the State meet.
 
Her senior cross country season started the same as the previous season: she won the alumni race and again broke the school record. She never lost a race and became the first female in our school to finish first at the State meet. Obviously, Lauren made the right decision that summer after her disappointing 2-mile race. She could have decided not to work hard and just be a middle of the pack runner, but she challenged herself to go for the gold. As a coach, you couldn’t be more proud of what she accomplished.
 
Look who’s coming  
 
Here’s a little story about that State meet victory in cross country. My assistant and I had been helping at the finish line for the past eight seasons, and we were working the finish again that year. As the race unfolded, Lauren was in the lead pack with five other runners. These runners stayed together until the 2,000-meter mark. At that point, Lauren and another runner broke away from the pack. Out on the course, the last time I saw Lauren the two girls were still together with 800 meters to go.
 
I headed back to the finish to help line up the runners as they came in. The last 250 meters of the race is uphill, so I had to wait to see whose head would pop up first as the runners crested the last hill. Fortunately, it was Lauren. What an unbelievable feeling to see your runner win a state title.     
 
--Stan Druckrey