DGS senior Sydney Gaspari is quickly running through her last year of high school as graduation approaches. Here she expresses some of her experiences both inside and outside of school as a cross country athlete. 

Q: When was the last time you ran a personal record?
A: Last Saturday at Fenton, I think it was my best time ever. I broke it by about ten seconds [now 21.26] and I was really excited because I’m starting off the first meet PRing, which usually doesn’t happen because we start off slower, but I’m starting off faster which is super exciting.

Q: When was the last time you motivated another teammate?
A: Usually on race days or workout days we have different groups so everyone goes at different times and then it’s really fun. Everyone lines up and cheers for the person as they’re finishing and it’s just really motivating. Everyone does that to each other which is probably why our team is really strong and close.

Q: When was the first time you realized you had a passion for running?
A: When I was younger I played soccer for six years and then I was always the mid field person who always runs back and forth and I played volleyball in the fall in my middle school years, so I never got to do cross country. So when I got to high school, I kind of just tried something new and I really liked it and I knew I always loved running because soccer kind of introduced that to me.

Q: When was the last time you achieved a goal outside of athletics?
A: Over the summer I applied to go to a college camp [Miami University] and surprisingly I got in and I was really happy because I really wanted to go. It was for two weeks and we got to do classes in your major that you want to do in college and it was just a really good experience. I was surprised when I got in but I was really excited.

Q: When was the last time you felt defeated?
A: A lot during the school year when I take tests. I study really hard for them and then I get a grade that I wasn’t expecting. I feel like I have to try a lot harder than some other people when I study, some kids don’t have to study, but I feel like I have to study so much to get at least a B. That is hard for me because I just want to be able to get good grades without trying as hard as other people.