Sophomore Deja Moorehead laces up her shoes and heads to her starting position as one of the girl’s varsity cross country runners. She lines up into her spot and the gun fires. Using all of her strength, Moorehead runs through the woods and up the steep, grassy hills of the course.
“Cross Country has taught me to never give up even when it gets too tough,” Moorehead said.
Last year Moorehead ran on varsity in both cross country and track. The head cross country and track coach Lacy Beckler had a lot of expectations for her, like running with varsity girls.
“It was hard trying to stay with girls that had practiced with each other for more than three years,” Moorhead said.
Moorehead’s teammates encourage her by cheering her and the team on and showing spirit. The practices get harder and harder, but Moorehead’s teammates always support each other.
“I don’t think of my team as teammates but more like family,” Moorehead said. “We’ve shared moments that I will never forget like Lyric Turner being loud and the team bonding.”
While running varsity cross country and track, she also keeps her grades up in her Pre-AP and AP classes.
“I don’t really have a social life,” Moorehead said. “I run, go to school, run again and then do homework. It’s hard seeing my friends go to parties and hang out while I stay at home and do school work.”
In the top of her class since her freshman year, Moorehead works to maintain her status.
“I’m not number one in my class but I’m pretty high up there,” Moorehead said. “My grades depict if I will get a scholarship running so I try and keep them up.”
