By Jackson Meeker

When you talk about fall, everyone thinks something different, but to sophomore Alice Conroy, the fall is cross country season. Conroy has been a member of the girls cross country team for two years and is planning on running for another two more.

Conroy began her competitive cross country career back in seventh grade and has been running ever since. Conroy’s first inspiration to go out for cross country came from her older siblings because they were really into the sport, especially her older sister, Lucy Conroy.  In the end, it was her parents that convinced her to go out for cross country.

Conroy’s family has played a huge part in her running career, many of her family members are into running. Conroy has two older siblings that are competing at the college level for cross country and have played a big role in her motivation to run.  When asked if she wants to run in college she simply said, “definitely.” Conroy also explained how even after college she still plans to run, because she enjoys it so much.

In this past season, Conroy was battling knee injury, and temporarily lost her varsity spot for part of the season. Her goal was to reclaim her spot on the varsity roster, which she was able to accomplish with hard work. Conroy has been competing at the varsity level for both her freshman and sophomore year. She had personal best of 20:57 last season and is hoping to beat that time and shed as much time off of it as she possibly can next season.

The girls cross country team was able to make it to the district meet this past season.  Though they fell just short of making the state meet. Conroy is motivated to help her team make it there next season.

For Conroy, running cross country isn’t all about competition. When asked about her favorite part of the sport she said, “Hanging out and becoming good friends with all the teammates.”  While she said she still does enjoy the sense of accomplishment after a meet or a hard workout, it’s not nearly as important to her as the friends and memories she’s made while running.

Running cross country has been an important part of Conroy’s life and her advice to all aspiring runners is, “Don’t get too stressed about times and competition. Motivation is good, but have fun with your teammates and enjoy the sport.”