A goal without progress is merely a far-fetched dream. Laura Wagner made her goals a reality when she qualified for and performed at the state championship meet in all four years of her high school cross country career.

Since Wagner began running cross country, she has had her share of setbacks. Lengthy recoveries from injuries have tried to knock her down, but she continues to push through. These traits allowed her to attend the state championship meet for the fourth time, this time as a senior and team captain.

Wagner explained the origins of how she became interested in running cross country, starting with how she joined the track team in seventh grade.

“I wanted to be a sprinter, but my dad [said], ‘You have to do cross country next year, so you get good, so you get where you want to be.’ Little did I know he was plotting on making me fall in love with cross country, which ended up happening and I’ve been running ever since,” Wagner said.

Her father was very devoted to running and his attitude and accomplishments inspired Wagner from an early age. Wagner began running long distance in seventh grade, and has loved it ever since. One of her coaches, Kevin Somerville, spoke about how he noticed her growth over the past four years of being her coach.

“As a freshman, she was on teams that made it to states, but she didn’t necessarily have the individual performances that we’ve seen out of her lately. And so she’s dropped minutes and minutes off her personal best time. Just even from last year to this year, she improved her time of states by over a minute from her all-time best and went from being a great member of a good team to just an outstanding great individual,” Somerville said.

This progress Laura has made did not happen overnight. Wagner had to put in the work, especially after an injury that caused her to stop training for a season. Soon enough, she would bounce right back and continue to improve as a runner. Somerville touched on the most important aspect of coaching Wagner through her injury.

“I had to be patient as she was injured. And we’re obviously wanting her to run her best and do her best at every race and all the time. And so when somebody runs into a route where they’re hurt and unable to race that way, it’s just a matter of being patient. And she made it easy because she was doing great to get back to full strength,” Somerville said.

After Wagner recovered from her injury, she still had plenty of work to maintain her fitness and fully devote herself to running again. She provided insight on her regimen to convey how she stays in shape outside of practice.

“My main thing is nutrition, making sure I’m getting enough food in me before races. I cram food in my mouth the night before. Carbo-loading is a big thing, which is so fun, so much pasta. As the saying goes: Eat pasta, run faster,” Wagner said.

While she must look after her health and nutrition, she also has made it far in cross country through her determination and her personal goals to succeed. She gave insight to what her thought process was like when running at Regionals.

“I kind of was like ‘mind over matter. The only thing that matters here is getting to States.’ And I had a feeling during the race that as a team, we weren’t going to make it, and I just wanted to do my best for my team, but also do my best for myself,” Wagner said.

Once Wagner made it to the state championship meet, she realized that it would be much different this year than previous ones. Despite this initial discomfort of the unfamiliar circumstance, she soon made a good situation out of a scary one and it became her best year at the meet. Though Wagner was the only girl on her team to qualify for the race, the support of her team is an important factor when determining what contributed to her overall success.

“I ran out by myself. I talked to my coach and my dad before the meet started, without any of my teammates there. And I didn’t know where any of them were going to be on the course. So I was just kind of waiting and seeing and hoping that I’d have the support out there, which I did. My teammates are amazing and they came out and supported me,” Wagner said.

One member of her team, senior Ellie Meech, has supported Wagner since they became friends in seventh grade. Meech explained how Wagner has grown as a runner and a student.

“Laura is one of the most hard working people in both school and cross country. She puts in all the effort day in and day out to grow into the runner she is,” Meech said.

Laura’s determination to work hard is not the only trait that helped her with her cross country journey. Her other coach, Jerry Somerville, shared a quality about Wagner that set her apart from other runners.

“I didn’t need to coach her on staying upbeat and positive. Sometimes other runners will get down on themselves, but Laura was able to stay positive and bounce back from setbacks,” Jerry Somerville said.

These positive traits are what prompted the coaches to assign her the role of team captain for her senior year. Meech explained how Wagner contributes to the environment of a team as the leader.

“Laura contributes to the team environment by making sure everyone stays focused no matter what. She also plays all of the much needed motivation music on our long runs,” Meech said.

Wagner is devoted to her career as a runner, expressing that she would love to continue after high school at a college level. This became her best year of cross country, and the team will miss her greatly when she continues on her journey elsewhere. Her drive and positive attitude will get her far not only in cross country, but in all facets of her life.

This story was originally published on Lantern on December 1, 2023.