Emma Fredericks, a freshman phenomenon from Northern Guilford, competed in three distance events. On Friday evening she ran a leg on the Nighthawk's runner up 4 x 800 relay. The following day, she won the 1600 in 5:33 and followed up that performance capturing gold in the 3200.
To fuel up for her races she followed her usual routine and ate a bagel with cream cheese with some strawberries. She psyched herself up before her competition by listening to Halsey and a few rap artists.
Going into the meet, her parents gave her some advice. Her grinning dad, Gavin reports, "we talk about her goals and what plan she needs to execute them. Her mom and I are super proud of her and we're glad she's having fun and running well." He added, "this year has been her first time running competitively. In the past, her soccer and softball coaches always remarked on her speed and endurance. Since she enjoyed running during those sports she thought she'd go out for cross country."
In the fall, Fredericks capped off her cross country season with a runner up effort in Cary NC at NXNSE in the freshman 5k. She said, "I want to qualify for new Balance Nationals Outdoors in the freshman mile. I've got to shave off 5 seconds and I hope to do it next weekend at the NCRunners Elite Invite.
After the 3200 race she confessed, "I'm worn out. My legs are tired from the other races. I'm really glad Hope Rackers (fellow freshman and track rookie) paced the 3200. We're looking forward to training together this summer and helping our team." On her dual championships she said with a smile, "It feels so great to win as a freshman. I love that I keep getting better and better. I'm going to keep trying harder to lower my times."
Watch Fredericks take 2nd in the Rising Stars race at NXN Southeast capping off an excellent XC season!