Freshman Focus/Columbus Valley/October 2013
Kayleigh Green
Smiths Station High School
Smiths, Alabama
By Beth Welch
Photos by Jerry Christenson
Small athlete making big strides in cross countryShe stands just a little over five feet tall and wears a size 6 ½ running shoe, but Smiths Station High School cross country runner Kayleigh Green is larger than life when she hits the running trail.Green began running in elementary school due to a program which encouraged students to participate twice a year in a school run. The petite athlete is hesitant to admit it, but even back then she would come in first or second in those events.
In middle school, Green began running cross country. Smiths Station High School has long been known for its running , and Green caught the attention of coach Cassidy Stecenko during Green’s days at the junior high. Stecenko moved her up to varsity where Green, 14, is participating in her third season for the XC team although she just began her freshman year at the school and is currently the top runner on the girls team.Between cross country season and keeping in shape for the sport, Green feels she is part of a year-round program. During the summer, she’s at school at 7:30 a.m. on weekdays to hone her running skills. There are also road races during the off season. That may seem like an awful lot of running, but Green just can’t seem to get enough of it.“I have a lot of endurance, I guess you could say,” she says.Endurance seems to be one word used often in describing her abilities as a cross country runner. According to Stecenko, Green’s strengths are numerous, and among those, endurance is big.“She has many (strengths)…very dedicated, disciplined, positive attitude, hard worker, focused in and out of the classroom, endurance, running form,” says Stecenko. “We have increased her mileage this year a great deal, and I think that will show even more during competition.”Another word applied to Green might be fast. Cross country events for high school athletes are 5k (3.1 miles) running events. Stecenko, who is in her tenth year coaching at SSHS, notes XC is different in that courses “usually take place in an open area or field, woods, golf courses, rather than on a road or track.”
Green says her fastest time to date for an XC event is 20:06. But the swift runner is not satisfied with that time and is looking to shave off a few more seconds for a personal best this season.“I really would like to be in the 19s,” says Green. “I know I can do it and I hope it will be this year that it happens.”Her coach views that goal as very likely to be realized.“Kayleigh can accomplish anything she puts her mind to. I have no doubt she will run in the 19s this year.
I’ve been preaching that to her since last cross country season,” says Stecenko.Green is a disciplined athlete. She doesn’t describe herself as competitive but she does like to win. To that end, the freshman says she obsesses somewhat over the mental aspects of the sport, often over and over replaying in her mind a course that she knows she will run in a competition.“I think what people don’t recognize about cross country running is that it is so mental. You have to have the right attitude and the will to push through. Running cross country is often a lot more in my head than just the physical part because I go over things in my head trying to see it even before I do it,” she says.With a shrug of her shoulders and a quick conspiratorial laugh, Green admits that running is not her only love. Long ago she discovered another sport. She has played soccer in the spring for years and finds it to be deeply satisfying on another level.“I guess I like to play soccer better but I am better at cross country. I love the soccer team. We just bond and it is like a second family to me, but cross country is, well, I guess I am just built or made for it so I probably do that better,” says Green.
For her freshman year, Green hasn’t decided if soccer is going to be on her schedule. She knows she needs to focus exclusively on running in her high school years, which means she will probably be part of the SSHS track team in some capacity. That is a familiar role since she has participated in track and field for a few years, too. College is on the horizon and she is interested in the field of physical therapy. But right now the only plans she is making concern this present time in her life. In addition to knocking time off her 5k event, Green is working on a couple more goals in the months ahead. She wants to be named the best XC runner in the area by a local newspaper and there is that one, small, bit of competitiveness that she hopes to satisfy this season.“The only time I really feel like I am competitive is against this one girl on another team. She doesn’t know it but I always want to get ahead of her and beat her. Got to do that this year,” she says, laughing.
Getting to know Kayleigh
Family: Parents, Brad and Victoria Green; brother, Brandon, 8, and sister, Mallory, 12
Pets: cat named Sox
Church: Smiths Station Baptist Church
Favorite food: grilled chicken
Favorite place to eat: Cheddar’s
Favorite place to shop: Kohl’s
Sport she wished she played but doesn’t: golf
Favorite team (college or professional): Atlanta Braves. My family are die-hard Alabama fans.
Best movie: The Last Song (I am a sucker for chick flicks)
Music: pop, country and contemporary Christian
Favorite subject in school: history
Thing you most like to wear: Just jeans, T-shirt and tennis shoes
Favorite motto or Bible verse: Joshua 1:9
“Kayleigh is still a very young athlete and if she keeps improving at this rate, then the competition needs to be ready!”—Cassidy Stecenko, Smiths Station High School girls cross country coach.
