After narrowly missing a trip to the Class 3A state cross country meet as a team last season, Southeast of Saline senior standout Piper Brown has a clear goal for the year ahead.
She wants to return to Rim Rock Farm with her teammates.
Brown was one of the area’s top individual runners last season, placing fifth at the Class 3A state meet and recording a time of 19 minutes, 57.72 seconds. Now, she hopes her individual success can help the Trojans return to state as a team and contend for a place on the podium.
“For this upcoming season, I am super excited to be back with my team and get to run with the new freshmen as well,” Brown said. “Last year we came short of making it to state XC as a team, and I really hope to return back to Rim Rock all together this season and hopefully even podium.”
Brown is also eager to see how much she can improve individually after an impressive junior season.
“I am also excited for myself to see what I am capable of running this year and how well I can perform at state,” she said.
Brown spent much of her summer preparing with Distance Inc., a training group run by Huey Counts. The group met four times each week, with two workout days, an easy run and a long run. Brown continued training on her own during the remaining days of the week.
The summer schedule included a variety of workouts designed to prepare runners for the demands of the cross country season.
“This summer I trained with the Distance Inc. group run by Huey Counts,” Brown said. “We would meet four times a week, two of the days being workouts, one being an easy run and the other being a long run. Then on the rest of the days, I would run alone.”
Tempo, threshold, speed and hill workouts were all part of her preparation. Just as important, Brown said, was the opportunity to train alongside other talented runners who challenged her to improve.
“I also get to run with lots of other good runners that help push me to work harder and be better during the offseason so I can be the best I can during the season,” she said.
While Brown has already established herself as one of the top runners in Class 3A, one of her biggest areas of focus this season has little to do with physical training.
She wants to improve her mindset.
“One area I could improve in would be my mindset,” Brown said. “In past years I have been negative about my running and even negative during a race, but this summer I worked to have a better positive mindset about how I perform.”
Brown has worked to avoid allowing one disappointing workout or race to affect her confidence.
“I worked to not get down on myself just because I had one bad workout or one bad run,” she said. “I just need to learn that some days aren’t going to be good days and move on.”
That mental approach could be important as Brown pursues ambitious individual and team goals.
Her first priority is helping Southeast of Saline qualify for state as a team. From there, she hopes the Trojans can earn a spot on the podium and potentially contend for a state championship.
“For this season, I have set a few goals in mind,” Brown said. “My first goal is to make it to state as a team, place as a team and, if it all works out, to win state as a team.”
To nominate someone for a story email [email protected]
