It’s hard to imagine being nearly perfect at something you’re new at. A skill often takes years to develop, gained from daily effort and dedication. It’s especially hard to get better at something when you’re used to doing a completely different task. But for freshman Theresa Albertson, a new skill was nothing she couldn’t handle.
The girls’ Cross Country team was having a difficult time recruiting members last year. While they knew that their 2023 roster was going to be cut in half due to the amount of departing seniors in the previous 2022 season, they also knew that losing half the team meant losing half the skills. Scared that the program would move down the rankings, the girls had to hope that new people would join.
Sure enough, the team gained four new assets, as one of them rose to the very top of the roster within two weeks of the official season. The whole team was shocked at the quick progression that this freshman was able to make.
I ended up growing closer to her, learning a lot about her life prior to cross country and still wanting to learn more. So, I sat her down for a formal interview.
Theresa had no idea how much her life would change when she made the difficult transition from soccer to cross country over the summer. Imagine doing something your whole life, putting in years of practice and getting nothing but progression in return. Soon enough, you become so skilled that you’re perfect. But, then a switch flips, and you decide to try a new activity instead of the one that you’re used to. Wouldn’t it be hard to start from scratch and let go? That is what Theresa had to go through.
I was interested to know how she was able to make that difficult transition. Theresa’s biggest inspiration is her cousin, who runs track at St. Joseph’s University. He is somebody who she has described as her “biggest role model”.
Her cousin’s insight and experience inspired Theresa to pursue running. He taught Theresa the importance of developing a positive mindset before a race, or else she’d slow herself down.
Despite the support coming from family members, Theresa expressed that she had a rocky start to the sport, exclaiming, “Building my base for running was the hardest part but after a solid month of running, I was able to transition easier”. Developing her skills over the summer taught her the importance of conditioning. When Theresa first started running on her own, all she did was a basic run on the treadmill.
She didn’t do any strength training or speed work. Upon starting summer cross country practice with her teammates, she began turning her runs into full workouts, implementing extra exercises such as strength and core training.
Another challenge that Theresa faced while transitioning from soccer was coming back from both concussion and knee injuries.
Her training was strategic and developmental, which ended up shaping her into an athlete with an impressive resume. She is under a lot of pressure since many people are watching her now, but thankfully her teammates are a crucial motivation to her success.. Something else that encouraged Theresa to try something new was the unhealthy environment of her soccer team itself.
She enjoys the dynamic of the cross country team, made up of girls who do nothing but support each other, an important aspect that her soccer team didn’t provide. After years of playing in a toxic environment, Theresa realized how badly it had been affecting her and realized how important it is to be supported, both on and off the field.
“My teammates are giving me more confidence and courage to do things. I’m actually looking forward to coming to the practices and meets now, instead of dreading it.”
Theresa ran a 22:50 in her first 5k cross country race, which was already a huge achievement. Just weeks later at the Osprey Open, located at Stockton University, she hit a PR time of 19:49, which placed her at 6th place in her race. Stockton is a race that she describes as her “most memorable” one.
Non-runners may not realize the significance of this achievement, but trust me when I say that Theresa’s time was a big deal. I asked her what she attributes her successes to, and she said, “I think I’m good at running longer distances because I can withstand more mentally. If the pain is coming on in a race, I can block it out. I don’t set high expectations for myself in a race. I start as slow as I can, but I will try to find someone and stick to them throughout the race. For Stockton, my goal was top 10, so when I saw that I was top 10, I started pushing myself to stay at the front.”
The biggest thing that we can all learn from Theresa is that building a skill takes mental effort and discipline, in addition to the physical work. With hard work comes improved results, and more importantly, enjoyment.
There is no doubt that she is going to continue working to shape her skills. When asked about her goals for future seasons, she said “I want to try to be in the low 19’s by the end of this year, and by the end of my junior or senior year, I want to be in the low 18’s or 17’s.” To put into perspective how incredible these time goals are, the average high school girl can run a 5k time in anywhere between 22 and 26 minutes, putting Theresa far below the average.
While Theresa’s story is more impressive than most, she is still a freshman who is new to a sport. The advice she’d give to other freshmen is to try to make friends on your team, expressing, “Don’t put too much pressure on yourself if you’re not the best, because there are other people who have much more experience than you.”
Theresa’s overly successful switch from soccer cleats to spikes is a testament to the fact that possibilities are boundless with hard work and determination.
