Salute to Seniors: Hannah Austin NYA

Name: Hannah Austin
School: NYA


What was your most memorable race?

There are so many races over the years that stand out in my mind that it’s hard to pick just one, so I’ll talk about two. The first was the regional cross country meet my freshman year. For most of my races in freshman year, I was still figuring things out (such as whether I actually liked this sport or not!) so I’d often not go all-out in races. This meet was the first one where I really feel like I truly raced. I remember sprinting toward the finish and just passing a girl from another team at the line. At the awards ceremony later in the day, when my team found out whether we made States, it was announced that my team, and the team of the girl I passed had tied for the last spot at the State meet. They went to the 6th runners to determine who would go, and our 6th runner was faster. I remember being so happy that I beat that girl since it really helped the team get to States!
The other race (or really whole meet) that stands out is States this past outdoor season. Since it was my last high school meet ever, I wanted to run everything I possibly could. Though I didn’t run any PRs, I feel like I tried my hardest, and I had lots of fun with my teammates and friends from other schools when I wasn’t racing. I think that since this was my last high school meet, I’ll always remember it more clearly than most others, and I’m glad that I can look back on it fondly.

Who would you consider your biggest competition over your four years?
I would have to say myself for this one. Especially this past year, I was constantly doubting myself and had very low confidence, and I would get extremely stressed and anxious before most of my races. For most of the cross country and indoor seasons of my senior year, the only thing that was keeping me from reaching my goals was myself. Anyway, regardless of my doubts in myself, to me, the most important thing when racing is not beating the other runners, but running faster than I have before.

What was your greatest accomplishment?
This one’s a tie for two. One accomplishment that I’m proud of is how much I’ve improved as a runner since freshman year. At my school, you have to do sports all three seasons, something I strongly disliked at first. I did track in middle school, but hated it and spent most of my time pretending to be injured or sick. My freshman year, I reluctantly decided to do cross country because I wanted something different from soccer, which I had done in middle school and was probably the worst on the team. As cross country season progressed however, I began to enjoy it more and more, and by the end of freshman year, I had decided that I loved running. As a freshman, I never thought that I would have improved as much as I did, and that I would love running as much as I do.
The other accomplishment that I’m proud of is that fact the over the past year especially, I’ve become more team oriented. In the past, especially during my sophomore and early junior year, I would only think about my own performances and not the team as a whole. I feel like this year I have really grown closer to my teammates, and how they perform has become very important to me. Even if I don’t perform my best, if my team does well as a whole, I consider it a successful day.



If you could do it all over again what would you change about your running career in high school?

I do sometimes wish that I had taken more time to simply enjoy my time as high school runner rather than always working myself up over my bad performances or upcoming races. I wish that during the races, I could have just enjoyed being there and gone in with more of a positive attitude. However, I believe that I have learned from every experience, even the bad ones, so in the end, I wouldn’t change anything, even though there are some things I look back on regretfully. I just wish that I had learned this lesson a little earlier than I did.


What were the most difficult obstacles you had to overcome?

There are two main ones. As I mentioned before, I dealt a lot with lack of confidence and anxiety during my senior year. I would work myself up in the days leading up to races so much that by the time the actual race came around, I’d often feel both physically and mentally drained. I was not able to race my best, and this made me more and more frustrated and discouraged. A few times during indoor track, I would run one race, and feel so sick and drained afterwards that I either scratched my other race, or did very poorly. When trying to work through this, I realized that I was putting so much emphasis on my race results that I was forgetting the single, simple reason that I run: because I love it. Focusing on this fact has helped me work past this obstacle, and I feel as though I am in a much better position with it than I was earlier this year.


The other obstacle is a setback I had this past outdoor season. Just as I felt like I was beginning to get back on my feet mentally, I got a bad virus around the middle of the season, and it was so bad that I am only just getting over it now. It was sometimes frustrating when I had to stop after only doing one interval of a workout, or when my times weren’t what I was hoping them to be in my races, but I accepted it, knowing that there was nothing I could do to change it and that I just had to do my best considering the circumstances. Though I obviously wish that this didn’t have to happen, especially in my last high school season, I am happy with how my outdoor season went considering my illness.


What will you miss the most?

I will really miss the whole Maine high school running community in general. Everyone, even people from opposing teams, is so supportive of each other. I have made so many friends, both on and off my team, who are amazing, kind, wonderful people, and I am going to miss them so much next year.

What advice you would give to younger athletes?

Remember to always work as hard as you can to achieve your goals, but at the same time, don’t put a ton of pressure on yourself. Just remember that this is supposed to be a fun, fulfilling experience, and in the end, it’s not really all about the results you achieve but also about the good memories you will make.

What influence has your coach had with respect to your performance and overall life goals?
My coach, Chris Mazzurco, has been amazing influence for me throughout all 12 of my seasons of high school running. When I first started running, he knew I was very unenthusiastic, so he tried especially hard to make it fun for me, and help me realize that running could be fun, and it soon worked. I positively hated any form of exercise prior to cross country, so it would take a pretty amazing coach to help me see that running could actually be fun! Ever since then, he has always been there for me, talking with me about my very many questions and concerns. I know that I would not be where I am today without him. Thank you Coach, for everything you’ve done!


What are your college plans?

I am going to Bates next year! I don’t know what I’m going to study yet, but I’m doing all three seasons of running.


Who would you like to say thank you to?
I’d like to thank the whole Maine running community, as well as my family and friends, and Milesplit for providing amazing coverage of running in Maine! You’ve all helped make my high school experience amazing!


Is there anything else you'd like to add?

Good luck next year everyone, keep working towards your goals and above all, remember to have fun!


More Coverage

Do you know a class of 2015 track and field or cross country athlete? We'd like to salute them! Have them answer the following questions plus send 2-3 photos (can not be from another website or publication) to dveilleux@milesplit.us