To my family, friends, and teammates: thank you.
The crack of the starting gun echoed in the open air, ricocheting into the dry chill. For those like me, who can never quite brace for the sound, the thrum of footsteps behind me propelled me forward. I knew the flash of gold, soon lost in the crowd of 300 girls, could only be Lexi Raquet, pulling farther away from the rest of us. I could see Bella Brick peeking out above the other girls, and Caroline Brousseau’s braids. Those two are just as seasoned as Lexi, which makes them the most reliable pacers and pace-pushers. In that opening 800m straight, the girls clustered into an ever-flowing river of bodies, and slowing down would only mean being spiked, or worse, trampled.
Finding my place on the outside of the course, I set my sights on the gold amongst the blues, greens, and greys. For a while, I simply held on, trusting the women around me to carry me forward.
The first 5k of the 6k didn’t exactly fly by, but as I turned the bend toward our final stretch, I saw the brightest bit of light blue and knew who was standing there. Coach Bryan Harmon.
It’s rather lucky for us that Space U Blue is so vibrant, because otherwise I might never have spotted Coach during the race. I’ve heard it said that if you’re focused enough in a race, you never see a single spectator on the sidelines. That isn’t true for my teammates and me. There is something special about the encouragement a coach brings, the way he always takes the time to tell the team about our momentum and how well we’re doing. Even so, if something needs to be said, Coach says it, and he doesn’t sugarcoat it. As I heard him shout, “17:54… 17:55… Daisy, you’ve got to go get Bella!” I was in shock. Not once in my 19 years had I broken 18 minutes in the 5k. What a blessing! What a gift!
One slight issue: I had spent nearly all my focus and fight in those first 5,000 meters. With no thoughts left in my head over the last kilometer except how terrible the final straightaway was (the longer the straightaway, the more mental pushing it takes), I crossed the line in 21:26, shaving one minute and eight seconds off my 6k personal record (PR) and finding my footsteps once again.
I can’t remember exactly who said it, but the quote, “Running is 10% physical, 90% mental,” rings true at the college level, where the competition is fierce. Before the Arturo Barrios Invitational, I had not PR’d in a single cross-country race since 2023. The last time I ran a race I was truly proud of was in high school. College athletics is an adjustment, and over the past year I have been so grateful to everyone who has supported me and contributed to my running journey.
As I stepped onto the Texas travel van, Coach’s words echoed in my ear: that I make a complete 180 on most race days, and that if I just ran the way I do at practice, being myself, all would be well.
So how do I practice?
I practice by being focused but lighthearted. I do what I need to do and usually think about how to write these steps into a book. I spin a tale of our feet falling on a chalky red track, our movements in sync around the turns, as we listen to Olivia Rodrigo, Taylor Swift, or Stray Kids.
And I do it all with the best ladies by my side! Each morning, it’s a blessing to watch Lexi effortlessly traipse around the track, head high and smile wide. Each morning, it’s a gift to have Bella and Bailey pace the rest of us on near-perfect splits during 1k repeats. The way we push each other in workouts and weights is amazing. That energy is what carries us onto the racecourse, and it’s why none of us ever really run alone.
Around the 3k, I found myself close to Madi Patchan. We had just raced up the incline and onto the straightaway toward the second loop. It seemed endless, a path full of women with no curve in sight. There were only feet, sweat, grass, and dirt. The dirt echoed with the crackle of spikes, the air sounded like heavy breathing, and all my eyes could see were boundless colors. Yet there was gold. She was about fifteen paces ahead of me, and though she eventually dashed off, the shimmer of her singlet kept me going. Madi is who motivated me that day, as she always does, whether she knows it or not.
Madi later told me, “I knew I wanted to be confident in myself and my contributions to our team. I knew where I wanted to be and ran a consistent race.” Confidence is key, and it unlocked a six-second PR for the third-year, bringing her to a terrific 21:10 and a potential spot on the University of Central Florida (UCF)’s top-ten list.
Just as I looked to Madi, so did many of our other teammates. “The race was good… I felt good, and Bella helped me a lot throughout the race because she went out so strong and led the way for the rest of the pack,” said Caroline, one of our grad students. She catapulted through the finish in an amazing 20:42, making her our second-in-command. Although she only arrived in August, I can’t imagine the team without her. She is always so positive and so kind. At the end, Caroline added, “Also, shout-out to Lexi for breaking 20.”
And what a feat that was. Lexi’s 19:49.2 made her the second woman in school history to break 20 minutes, and we all felt the pride of it. That is the beauty of this team, for when one of us rises, all of us rise! Every PR in that lineup was built on the miles, the mornings, and the belief we pour into one another.
Hours after the race, we enjoyed brunch at Snooze, a breakfast diner that was anything but a snooze! Debriefing with the team about the race is my favorite part of post-race. The 3.72 miles are different for each person who laces up in the early hours, and hearing how each separate story weaves into one strong one is such a blessing.
Over omelets and pancakes, Sarah, our only freshman on the distance side of the team at the moment, told me how different college racing is from high school. “I ran my first 6k,” said the fierce freshman, Sarah Rose. “I was excited to be there, and it was fun to be there, [but] it was a lot.” In the Florida High School Athletic Association (FHSAA), no runner ever races farther than a 5k in cross country. One extra kilometer may not seem drastic, but it’s a whole other race when you’ve never run it before. Luckily, for Rose and the rest of us, the Texas weather was wonderful. Coming from hot and humid Orlando, Rose proclaimed, “I’ve never been more grateful for cold weather in my entire life.” The brisk, dry air was much easier to breathe than the sweltering Florida heat.
Taking on Texas was not only a confidence booster for our team, but also a great chance to scope out the competition for the BIG12 Championship on Oct. 31. Yes, most of the women on the distance team were in their singlets for Halloween this year. Among the BIG12 teams at the Arturo Barrios Invitational, UCF pushed for a top finish, a testament to our teamwork.
Even so, more work remains before the conference, and this team has shown it is ready to do it together. Coach Harmon put it best after the race, “The first 6k of the year was another great team effort. Anytime you have 7 PRs, you’re going to be pleased. At the same time, it was a great chance to see some things we are doing really well and also some things we need to clean up and improve upon 2 weeks out from Big 12.”
These are the PRs for the race: Lexi Raquet (19:49.2), Caroline Brousseau (20:42.2), Madison Patchan (21:10.1), Bella Brick (21:14.4), Emily Wheldon (21:22.1), Daisy Ross (21:26.0), and Sarah Rose (22:06.4)