Cross country is a sport with a lot of running, more than most people want to do. However, cross country runners push themselves, putting in the miles in the hopes of qualifying for state. This year, sophomore Audrey Dieckman did just that for the second year in a row.
“It felt amazing to make it to state. I made it last year, but I still didn’t know how I would do before the season started,” Dieckman said. “I am super proud.”
Because Dieckman qualified for state last year, she had an idea of what to expect when it came to competing this season.
“This year I had the mindset of you have to flip the switch halfway through because you really want to quit through a lot of it,” Dieckman said. “So you just kind of have to keep going.”
Dieckman set goals with her coaches, building on the season before.
“I view Audrey’s season as a success. She consistently ran much faster than her times last year,” head coach Joel Carrillo said.
Her strong performances throughout the season helped her achieve a time of 21:21 and an eighth place finish at districts.
“Going into districts, I was ranked seventh, and after running, I got eighth with a PR (personal record),” Dieckman said. “I was really happy with this, especially since I was really close to two girls ahead of me.”
Dieckman then had to prepare for state.
“The week before state, I had to keep up with practices but not run too hard to tire myself out before the meet,” Dieckman said.
While she was the only Yutan runner who qualified, her teammates helped with the process of getting ready for state.
“Even though I was done, I still ran some days, and on days she would say I just want to be done, and I would tell her that she was gonna do great,” junior Eli Kult said.
Kult, along with seniors Anna Rupp and Madilyn Ledden, all came to support Dieckman as she ran at state.
“At state, I encouraged her by giving her water at multiple points and cheering on her and telling her to keep pushing herself,” Kult said.
Dieckman noticed all the support she received from friends and family.
“It totally affects me positively. Without support from friends and family, I don’t know if I would have had a lot of motivation to actually do good and run good,” Dieckman said.
Deickman finished in 43rd place at state. She ran a 21:31, beating the time she ran last year at state.
“I felt really good for how I did at state,” Dieckman said. “Overall, I am proud of my performance.”
Dieckman’s performance both at state and throughout the season put excitement in her coaches for the years to come.
“She never got injured, and she placed much higher than previous years. If this continues, then she is setting herself up for a state medal next year,” Carrillo said. “She is a minute faster than her times last year. That’s a 5 percent increase. While this kind of growth is not always sustainable, this still puts us at breaking 20 minutes next year, and that means a medal.”
The optimism for next year expands beyond Dieckman and goes to the entire team.
“The overall girls team should improve with some of the people that we are getting out, then the boys team, we’re getting a couple of runners that all can run under 20 minutes, which is good,” Carrillo said. “So I’m hoping to get maybe another couple of kids to state or at least place as a team in a few races.”
