Kaylie Hanyzewski is a junior and is a varsity cross country runner. During her time at Penn she has been able to participate at the varsity level for three years.
In your junior year of high school what has challenged you the most in cross country?
“What has challenged me the most my junior year is definitely handling both my sport, many difficult classes, sleep, and mental health.”
How would you say you overcome these challenges and some advice you could give underclassmen?
“I have tried to my best to manage my time in the best way possible. Any advice I give to underclassmen is definitely do not procrastinate. Especially as a student athlete. It is very easy between practices, games, and meets to just want to come home and do nothing, however you are a student first and that needs to be your top priority.”
Before your senior year what are some things you want to accomplish?
“Before my senior year, I would like to continue to be a leader in the school and amongst my team. I want to make the All-American board for weights again this year, and I would like to hopefully make it through the year with a 4.0 GPA.”
When you think of Penn cross country what do you think of?
“I think of all of the fun and awesome times we have together. Obviously running is not very easy, and my teammates pretty much get be through it even on my worst days. Even the newest members of the team, I would consider like family to me and I don’t know where I would be without every single one of them.”
Who are some of the people that push you and why?
“Some of the people that push me are Aubrey Morgan, my family, and my grandfather. Aubrey is my best friend in the whole world, at this point she is practically my sister. She pushes me to be my absolute best, not just in running, but to be a better person overall. My family has always supported me and I owe so much of how far I have come to them. And when it comes to my grandfather, a man who ran many marathons, he doesn’t tell me to be faster or to train harder. Instead he reminds me to always enjoy the experience and the opportunities, and that you never can truly lose, if you find a way to learn from your mistakes and setbacks and come back better everyday.”
