“On your mark, set, go” 

Emerson Skatell has heard these words many times before. She is no stranger to the feelings of anxiousness and excitement that course through her as she prepares to run her race. When the gun goes off she runs as fast as ever, hearing the loud echo in the air around her. She has run the mile hundreds of times and trained hard for this competition. She crosses the finish line after 5 minutes and 11 seconds. Feelings of accomplishment and pride take over her as she realizes that she has qualified and secured her spots at States. 

Since her experience going to the Outdoor Track State Competition, Emerson hasn’t stopped training. Her passion for running has only intensified as she ran on the cross country team in the fall, and this past winter on the indoor track team. This is Emerson’s second year running indoor track. Preparing for a new season of indoor track has not been especially easy. Since indoor track is a less popular winter sport, they don’t necessarily have a coach to help them yet. 

Not having a coach to guide you can be difficult in terms of competing. However, the team has been able to compensate for this, so much so that Emerson placed in the top 20 at the indoor track state-level competition. In preparation for the indoor track season, Emerson and her team wanted to put their best foot forward against their competition. 

She said, “We used workouts that we were already used to doing from the normal track season.” Emerson stayed after school most days to work out and practice. 

The state competition at Penn State for indoor track was a memorable experience in her running career. Apart from the thrill of competing, one of Emerson’s favorite things about track is getting to travel to different meets. 

Emerson said, “I enjoyed being at Penn State for the meet. It was a really cool facility because I’ve never been there before. It’s a lot of fun to get to go with my teammates to new places to hang out with them and then get to run against different people.”

Emerson emphasizes the importance of camaraderie, support, and friendship within her team being just as important as the physical aspect of it. She believes that having such strong friendships amongst their team makes the sport so much more enjoyable. As she was competing for the state title, she gained motivation from the friends who had accompanied her there to support her. This unconditional support fueled her determination as she competed for the state title.

She said, “It was nice having other people there other than my parent and having my teammates to support me”

Preparing for race day involves both physical and mental readiness. She first makes sure that she is warmed up and stretched before running. However, the mental aspect proves to be equally as important. With competing, comes immense amounts of stress and pressure to win. After years of being in these competitive situations, Emerson has realized that the best thing she can do is just to try her hardest.

Emerson said, “There is definitely pressure on me and I feel nervous but try to stay calm and know that I’m capable and just try my best because I know that’s all I can do.”

Along with warming up, stretching, and maintaining positive self-talk, Emerson does one last crucial thing to ensure she is prepared. Although it may simply be a superstition, Emerson takes comfort in wearing her lucky bracelet to every meet.

Emerson said, “I know it sounds super weird but along with the bracelet, I also will always wear the same pair of socks each meet for good luck.”

Despite indoor track having a relatively short season, Emerson’s schedule remains packed with commitments to the cross country and track teams; meaning she never really gets an “off-season”. Balancing sports seasons along with school work can pose a significant challenge. Yet, Emerson’s commitment to excellence extends beyond the track, reflected in her academic pursuits and time management skills.

She said, “I try to balance my time and try to get my homework done right when I get home from practice.” 

She does admit to this being a challenge on occasion. 

Emerson said, “There are times that it can be difficult to keep good grades. AP chemistry is my hardest class and it’s hard to keep up with the difficult tests, especially with all of my other classes.”

As her junior year comes to an end, Emerson is beginning to think about what she wants to do after high school. Looking ahead, her sights are currently set on either Bowling Green, Lehigh, Quinnipiac, or Bucknell where she plans to continue her running career while studying either early childhood education or premed.