Sophomore student Madelyn Taylor competed in the state cross country meet at Round Rock, Texas on Sat., November 12, 2016.

“I was really shocked at first and could not believe I had actually qualified,” Taylor said. “After I got over my disbelief, it was all joy and excitement from then on out.”

Taylor has been running for six years and began running for a cross country team as soon as she could. In middle school she ran on the Salyards Middle School Cross Country team for two years and continued her passion as she entered high school. However, before even joining an official team, Taylor said her love for running began long ago.

“It all started in the third grade whenever we ran laps and collected straws for each one we completed.” Taylor said. “My goal was to beat the boys and my love for competition and the sport just grew from there.”

All of Taylor’s hard work and effort put into pushing herself to do her very best at every Cross Country meet and practice paid off in the end. The 5 a.m. morning practices before school and summer work outs seemed to only prepare her for her successful journey in the sport.

“I worked really hard during the summer and did my absolute best to prepare myself for the upcoming season,” Taylor said. “I did a lot of twice a day workouts and really pushed my limits at each meet.”

At the state meet, Taylor placed 115th out of the 152 participants at the state meet, which is a memorable experience for her and a spectacular achievement she earned from all the work and effort she has put in.

Taylor also appreciated having a significant amount of support from the Cypress Ranch community.

“A special shout out to my family, teachers, Coach Hoffpauir, and my teammates for being my support and my best motivators this season,” Taylor said. “Plus a special thanks to Cy Ranch for their encouragement on my road to state.”

Taylor plans to continue running on the Mustangs Cross Country team where she is surrounded by encouraging teammates while doing what she loves.

“It is a very huge part because it is very important to who I am as a person,” Taylor said. “Running gives me a way to clear my head and gives me a sense of belonging. I feel like it was just something I was just made to do I can not really explain why I do the sport.”