{"id":45585,"date":"2025-01-08T15:39:31","date_gmt":"2025-01-08T19:39:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.knightcrier.org\/?p=45585"},"modified":"2025-01-10T09:46:22","modified_gmt":"2025-01-10T13:46:22","slug":"wagner-tracking-down-her-goals","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.knightcrier.org\/sports\/2025\/01\/08\/wagner-tracking-down-her-goals\/","title":{"rendered":"Wagner tracking down her goals"},"content":{"rendered":"

The life of being an athlete. Early mornings. Late nights. Long practices. Grueling workouts. All to see the end goal, a championship. Although many try, very few succeed. North Penn sophomore cross-country runner, Bailey Wagner, did succeed.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

In her freshman year, Wagner placed 74th. Exactly one year later, she improved by nearly 50 spots.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201c[Going into the season], I wanted a medal. It was a big goal, and I knew it would be a big jump from my first year because I placed 74th freshman year and medals are for the top 25 finishers. I knew I could compete with the top girls so I just had to stick with them the whole season and do the same thing at states,\u201d sophomore Bailey Wagner stated.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

While this was a looming goal, Wagner had to navigate the noise throughout the season to return to the coveted course in Hershey.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI try to block everyone out. There are so many people and it\u2019s so distracting so I\u2019ve learned to ignore the noise,\u201d Wagner explained. \u201cThe whole race I\u2019m just locked in on finishing. I just try to talk myself through.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

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Wagner running the cross-country course<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u201cBecause I knew I wanted to get to states, my mindset was <\/span>well I can\u2019t get a medal if I don\u2019t get there<\/span><\/i>,\u201d Wagner said.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Although States was looming in her head the entire season, Wagner made it her goal to make herself better and be a good leader for her teammates.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cWe only had one other runner that went to states last season and she has been injured so I felt like I had to pick up the leadership role. I knew that I was the top runner so I needed to be there for all the other girls and motivate them so they could perform well too,” Wagner said.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Wagner placed within the top 15 throughout the entire regular season, with 6\/7 finishes being in the top 10, allowing her to qualify for Districts, and later, States.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cBecause I was the only one that qualified, I could bring people with me [to States] so I got to bring a lot of my friends and teammates,\u201d Wagner explained. \u201cJust being with them made the experience a lot less stressful and allowed me to focus on having fun with them before having to lock in for the race\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Although part of her goal was accomplished, it was still an uphill battle for the sophomore as competing in States was no easy task.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI knew that the course was hard from my freshman year. My mindset was you did it your freshman year, you can do it now. It came down to maintaining the spot I was in and staying next to the people I wanted to keep in my sight the whole race. I also just tried to forget about it and not think about what I was doing so I could get through,\u201d Wagner said.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Although she prepared all season for this moment, being in Hershey for the moments leading up to the biggest meet of the year was still extremely stressful for Wagner.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s nice that I can bring a lot of people that I\u2019m close with, but still it\u2019s very stressful,\u201d Wagner explained. \u201cI tried to eat a lot of carbs so I could get good energy and lots of sleep. I focused on taking deep breaths, ignoring my setting, and taking a second to refocus my mind. You see the other teams and all the girls you\u2019ve been running with that are super fast, but it goes away once the race starts. It\u2019s just a lot of stress leading up to it.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

As the gun went off at the start line, everything seemed to fade away and all Bailey had to focus on was putting one foot in front of the other and keeping her pace.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cWhen you\u2019re racing, it’s super hard to tell where you are and you have people screaming at you the whole time, so I had no clue. I was very motivated and trying to stay focused and not get in my head because I knew that would throw me. I tried to just focus on the goal and how I would feel after. That\u2019s my favorite thing about racing. The way that you feel so good afterward,” Wagner continued.<\/span><\/p>\n