In Her Own Words: Stefanie Kurgatt

Hello everybody! Well, outdoor track in Florida is well underway and most of us will be approaching our second or third meet this weekend. It’s crazy to think that this is my last high school season, but I am going to enjoy every bit of it and definitely blessed to get this far. After Seattle it was time to get back to reality and back to the usual schedule. I realized how much I love sleep and this might sound sad, but every runner should know how I feel. When I have any sort of free time the first thing I want to do is sleep. Sleep is glorious and definitely a key component when it comes to being able to compete at your fullest potential and I love it. Anyway, if I could give any advice to anyone for this season is sleep more.

Apart from little side note, Maclay just came off of a pretty amazing week! Last week my fellow teammate Travis Covert officially became an Osprey. He signed his letter of intent Friday and it was amazing to see all his hard work and dedication truly pay off. UNF is truly lucky to get Travis and it has been an honor being on the same team as him since eighth grade. Congrats Trav, and SWOOP!

That Friday afternoon our middle school team competed at the Godby meet and did an amazing job setting numerous pr’s. The next day varsity went to Godby and really did some work. We took first, second, and third in the girl’s and boy’s mile and in the boy’s pole vault. The girl’s team also won the 4x4 and got third in overall rankings. The boys ended up winning the meet which was super exciting! One of the more impressive performances came from Darrielle McQueen who posted a nation leading mark in the long jump and US#2 in the triple. Congrats to her. Also like to give a shout out to Mr. Covert. He took a massive amount of pictures and was able to do a lot of coverage for Flrunners. You rock Mr. Covert (even though sometimes you catch me in my worst moments)! It will be great to be able to look back at the pictures when I’m in college.

This Friday Maclay is headed to Bolles, which is one of my favorite meets and I am sad I will not be there. I will be competing in the 800m at NBIN in New York. Make sure to tune on online on Sunday. It will be a great day of racing. I am super excited to be able to get another opportunity to race against the top in the nation. My workouts have been going super well and I am ready to put everything out there and race with passion So, it should be a good experience. I will miss being at Bolles for the last time, but good luck to my team and much thanks to Bolles for holding the meet. You all do such a great job and it has been an honor being able to race on your track. It has also been great having Bolles come out to Tally and run with us over the summer.

As always, I have to give a shout out to my future team Georgetown. This weekend they will be in Arkansas for the NCAA Indoor National Championships. WOOT WOOT! Good luck to everyone this weekend wherever you may be competing! Always remember, Track and Field is not an easy sport, but we all do it because we have inside what it takes to do the impossible. We are a rare kind of breed. Not many people can go out and train as hard as we do! So everyday know that the workouts you are doing is helping you get one step closer to your goal.

God Speed and Go Hoyas! 

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