Running is a lot harder when every step hurts. Overcoming this obstacle was a challenge Dane Hayden (12) took in full during his senior cross-country season all while preparing for his future.

Hayden has been running since middle school, with the exception of 8th grade, making for a total of six cross-country seasons. This season specifically has come with new challenges for Hayden.

“This season wasn’t a good one for me. It made me mentally stronger more than physically because I’ve been pretty much injured the whole season,” Hayden said. “Being able to push through mentally and get through it grew me as a person and athlete.”

With his achilles tendon being tight, running on soft surfaces (such as the grass) along with the sharp turns of the cross-country courses can cause painful irritation. Hayden adapted by finding stretches that helped him in addition to doing extra training.

“I would go to a training place after practice each day to get that stretched out,” Hayden said. “I would also stretch it out during weightlifting because Coach Gary would give me some stretches.”

Outside of the physical challenges, Hayden has also worked to balance being a student and an athlete. Taking multiple AP classes and being an active member of a sport can take a lot of time.

“Balancing cross country and class is very hard,” Hayden said. “I still can’t really, but it’s just day by day, you just gotta focus on what’s in the present and keep that mindset of working towards the future while also focusing on the present.”

Classes are not the only thing that help Hayden with his future as cross country plays a big part in his future career. Hayden wants to be in the sports management field as a sports marketing manager and his sport has shown him a first-hand look at the field.

“Cross country helps me see all the inputs that go into coaching a team and a high school level team because I want to work mainly with colleges or professionals,” Hayden said. “It’s helpful to see how the athletes can start at a smaller stage like this and how we can kind of build them up to work towards a collegian professional level.”                                                                                                         

Hayden ran through the pain and the lessons he learned paid off as he plans to go to IU Bloomington or IU Indianapolis to pursue a career inspired by his time on the cross-country team.