As I reach the end of my fourth and final year as a representative of the men’s cross country team at Springfield College – it has been a bittersweet ride.
The bitter part is that my eight seasons as a cross country athlete – four at South Hadley High School prior to SC – have now come to an end. The sweet part is what I tend to look at and reflect on a bit more. In doing so, I’m able to look back on all of the relationships and connections that I have made, the goals I have achieved, and the lessons that I have learned along the way.
Back in my junior year of high school I started receiving letters from colleges, but Springfield College was the only one stood out to me.
The head men’s and women’s cross country coach, Anna Steinman, was the one who really paid attention to my high school times and heavily recruited me. It was the small things that drew me to Springfield – whether it be Coach Steinman’s handwritten letters asking about my season, showing up to my meets, or even introducing me to that current SC team.
This all served to be a constant reminder of why I do the sport I love.
From the young age of 14, I was quickly shown by Nick Davis, my high school cross country coach at South Hadley, how much of a commitment cross country actually was. He preached that in order to be successful in this sport, it is much more than running miles on end — it’s also about taking care of the body by eating the right foods and recovering properly.
I was able to carry these habits into Springfield which helped me stay healthy and in the best shape for competition.
The structure of the sport never changed, it was more so the existential things that were different. Entering college, I quickly realized that the workload was much more demanding than high school, meaning I needed to balance my time between sports and academics.
Practice 4-6 p.m. Monday through Friday and the addition of team lifts on Mondays and Wednesdays from 5:30-6:30 certainly made it difficult to find time to get work done and study. Being a student-athlete in college is very time-consuming and difficult, at times, to find the energy to get through the day. At the end of either a Monday or Wednesday, after multiple classes in the morning, practice right after class, and lift after that, homework is the absolute last thing I wanted to do.
What I have learned is that it is possible to meet both ends of the title of student-athlete. I found that as long as I was able to physically and mentally be present, proactive, and stay on task, I would be able to succeed in the things that I was passionate about.
I look back fondly on all of the most vivid core memories that cross country has given me and that I have been fortunate enough to experience.
It feels like just yesterday that I won my first-ever cross country race at Ashley Reservoir in Holyoke, right in front of my future head coach Anna Steinman.
Winning my first-ever race was a huge accomplishment, but it was what happened afterward that made it a memory that I will always cherish. Coach Steinman asked me if I would like to meet the current Springfield College cross country team. Being able to meet the team then left a mark on me — it showed what I could be a part of if I put my mind to it.
Not only do I think of the people who have impacted my athletic career, but I also think about the places I have raced at and the memories that were created in those locations.
Stanley Park in Westfield has always been my favorite place to compete because of the races I’ve had there — in my high school days, both the PVIAC and Western Mass. postseason meets were there. This course has featured some of my best opponents, some of my personal bests that left me breathless as I crossed the finish line, as well as my final collegiate cross country race.
All of this was made possible by all the connections that I made throughout my journey as an athlete. I don’t think I would be where I am today without the constant support from my friends, family, and coaches who urged me to keep pushing, hit my splits, or surge the hills.
Cross country is more than a sport to me.
It’s a sport that demands a lot of time and energy that I didn’t even know I had some days. More often than not, I would go home sore and would have to roll out of bed and do it all over again the next day.
When I toe the line and wait anxiously for that gun to fire, that’s when it all comes back to me. I stuck with cross country because it molded me into who I am today. I learned how to be comfortably uncomfortable in new environments and situations. I learned how to use my voice and be more vocal. I learned how to lead a team as a captain and motivate my teammates to be the best versions of themselves. I learned how to trust myself and be more confident.
I learned how to love cross country.
Bradyn Cote is a South Hadley native, Daily Hampshire Gazette sports intern and current student at Springfield College.