By Amaya Mahoney

On your mark, get set, run! And they’re off! Off the blocks goes the Mount Vernon girls track team. Along with them is junior Caroline See. Over the last few years, See has accomplished many achievements in track and cross country. See has been running since she was in fifth grade. At first, she ran alone and eventually made her way to competing with her classmates in school sports.

All of her success started with going out with her mom on a run, but would tag along on a bike beside her. One day her mom asked her if she wanted to run instead of bike, which she agreed to. The duo continued going on their runs until the day she started running faster than her mom, and her mom ended up being the one on the bike.

“My grandma also inspired me to run,” she said. See said her grandma is always active and that inspired her to go out and do what she does best, running.

See’s favorite part of running is when it’s over, knowing she achieved in something that can keep her energized throughout the day. One thing she said she needs to work on is her negativity. Whenever she doesn’t do her best, negative thoughts always go through her head,  making her a lesser version of her best self. But she tries to push those thoughts aside to stay as positive as she possibly can. She also tries to keep her teammates more positive and on the path to success.

In her freshman year, she ran cross country and distance track. She ran the 4×800 at state freshman year. While running cross country sophomore year, she made the alternate state team and believes the team can make it to state this year.

Everyone has mishaps and stories. See said that in her freshman year of cross country, she had to borrow a pair of spikes, which are special running shoes, for one of the races. She said that the spikes she ran with were too big for her and at one point in the muddy race, she lost her shoe. Not being able to stop and get it, she had to run the rest of the race without a spike which she says didn’t end well.

See’s goals for her future are to earn a scholarship and get into a Division Ⅲ college. “Have fun, start small, don’t have high expectations until you’ve developed stamina” is See’s advice for people who are aspiring to be a runner.