Name: Grace Hatheway
School: Cedaredge High School
Q) What was your most memorable race/throw/jump/vault/moment?
My most memorable race was at the Delta Panther Invitational in 2018. It was the 800 meter race and I finally beat my older sister. It wasn't by more than 5 seconds, but I finally did it.
Q) Who would you consider your biggest competition over your four years?
My biggest competition has always been myself. No matter who I was racing I always competed with myself. I usually ran better when I was racing against one of my friends from another school, especially those from Hotchkiss High School. I ran for Hotchkiss in cross country and it was always fun to run with/against those girls when we weren't on the same team.
Q) What was your greatest accomplishment?
My greatest accomplishment is going to state in track for the last three years as an alternate. I was hoping this year would be the year that I was able to run on the Jeffco Stadium track in the state meet.
Q) If you could do it all over again what would you change about your career in high school?
I wish I could go back and put in more effort. I always wish I had more motivation to run in the off-season so I could come back strong and in shape.
Q) What were the most difficult obstacles you had to overcome?
The most difficult obstacle that I had to overcome was when I was hurt in 6th grade and couldn't run for almost three years. After I got to high school I was able to run again. I joined cross country in the fall and track in the spring. Now my obstacle is the Coronavirus. For me it has been hard to stay inside and not go for runs and do workouts. Hopefully soon I can go back to running outside.
Q) What will you miss the most?
Honestly, I will miss the days in practice where we did repeats. They are never fun while they are being run but the accomplishment felt after making it through 12 x 400s is like nothing else. I will miss the days where we practiced in the rain, the days where we thought practice would never end, and the days where we goofed off and had fun. I will miss my cross country team and my track team from all four years.
Q) What advice would you give to younger athletes?
I want to tell younger athletes to make the best of every practice, meet, and off season. You never know when plans will change. Never take anything for granted and always do one more.
Q) What influence has your coach had with respect to your performance and overall life goals?
Coach Henderson pushed me to try new things. I never wanted to run the 2-mile. Running 8 laps in a row is not appealing. When he put me in my first 2-mile race, at league my freshman year, I actually moderately enjoyed it. I placed and scored points for the team. Coach Henderson helped me to feel like I could try new things and succeed at them.
Coach Cowan helped me open up. As a freshman running for another team, Hotchkiss High School, I was even more introverted then I was before. When I rode with him to practice, he liked to tell stories. He is the most talkative coach I have ever had the pleasure of running for.
Coach Cannell could always be goofy with the rest of the team. She enjoyed watching us mess around and laugh.
Q) What are your college plans?
I am going to attend Colorado State University to study Biomedical Sciences and Molecular Biology. Then I want to attend medical school to become a neuro or pediatric surgeon.
Q) Who would you like to say 'thank you' to?
I would like to say thanks to my family first and foremost for always believing in me and pushing to do my best even when I didn't want to.
I would also like to thank all my coaches going back to elementary school in Girls on the Run.
I would especially like to thank Coach Kelly Cowan for driving me to and from cross country practice for four years, Coach Kirby Henderson for pushing me to run the mile and 2-mile, and Coach Emily Cannell for always encouraging me to do one more.
I want to thank my running buddies, Briar and Meri because they made the 2-mile less painful, if that's possible.
Q) Is there anything else you'd like to add?
This is an incredible thing to do for seniors. Thank-you so much for doing this MileSplit and Bobby Reyes!
