Senior Hannah Cook ran in the 5A VHSL State Championship on Friday, Nov. 7, which marked her fourth qualification in four years. She placed 40 out of 100 runners in her last race as a high school cross country runner and represented the girls’ team as its sole qualifier.
In her qualifying race earlier in the season, Cook placed 12 out of 224 JV and varsity runners, earning an appearance to compete in Leesburg, VA. alongside the boys’ cross country team.
“Since this is going to be my last time ever running a cross country race, I’m just going to try to leave it all out there and just give it my all,” Cook said before the race.
As captain of the girls’ cross country team and a four-time all-region runner, Cook was the top ranked varsity girl and a five-star recruit for her class. She has a personal record of 2:24 seconds in the 800m, 5:26 seconds in the 1600m, and 19:33 in the 5k. To accomplish such records, Cook trains with the team two to three days a week and completes three-mile runs every practice to increase her endurance for in-race competition.
Over the course of her four-year varsity career, she used her older peers as inspiration to develop into one of the top runners for our school.
“When I was younger, there were some older girls I looked up to that I tried to run and keep up with during workouts,” said Cook. “It wasn’t the real competition, but they were there to help me and push myself to do my best.”
Cook also keeps her mind clear during meets and avoids negative self-talk. She reminds herself that “you can do this” and that “you want this” to power through races and outmatch opponents.
“Let’s say a girl passes me. I’ll say ‘stick to this girl to this point’ to try to stay positive because sometimes it can be hard,” said Cook.
Cook’s positive self-talk and hard work has paid off over four years, and will likely serve as inspiration for future runners at our school.
For now, Cook is undecided about whether or not she will continue her running career at the collegiate level, making this fourth appearance all the more significant.
