By T.J. Turrisi
Meadville senior runner Elesia Wilson understands what it takes to be great.
Wilson, now a four-time girls cross country runner of the year honoree, has never gotten complacent in her success. She has always strived for more and brought others along with her.
This season she became a two-time District 10 champion, but she reached two bigger goals set before the season started.
On an individual level, she earned her first PIAA medal with a 16th-place finish in Hershey, which helped her earn this year’s nod as The Meadville Tribune’s girls cross country runner of the year. Her team goal of winning a D-10 title was also met in Sharon on Oct. 31.
“She put together, from start to finish, as great a season as you could ask of a senior,” head coach Chuck Jones said. “She put in an outstanding summer. We had talked last year that our goal together was to be able to put a medal around her neck. She positioned herself in such a fashion that that came to fruition.”
“It was great,” said Wilson of the way her senior season unfolded. “As a team I wanted us to win districts and go to states since it was my last year. I had always been planning to try to place at states, and I knew I had to put in the work to get the rewards. I made sure I worked hard every day in practice to reach my goal.”
Wilson’s day-to-day routine pushed her to a time of 19 minutes, 33 seconds in the PIAA meet, 52 seconds faster than her time as a junior.
“Every day after practice I would ask coach Jones if he thought I was on track, and if he didn’t think I was on track I would do more,” she said. “I just wanted to make sure there were no surprises when we got down to Hershey. I didn’t want to finish 26th and just miss it.”
Now that Wilson’s very successsful career is over, Jones was reminiscing to when she was not the best runner on the team. The way she has developed over the years will continue to be inspiring to the team even after she is gone.
“We will miss her she’s been in our program for all six years,” Jones said. “She didn’t start out as our best runner but developed the internal fortitude to become successful. She just has a strong personality. She is well-deserved of the accolades she gets.”
“I just wanted to make sure everybody else did the best they could do so they could be in same shoes I am maybe when they are getting ready to graduate or even next year,” Wilson said. “I want them to be goal-oriented and think that running is fun enough to do it every day even though they might get tired of it. I was trying to keep them in a positive mode even after I graduate.”
While she has not yet decided on a school for the fall, Wilson is excited about a few she will be checking out in the near future.
“I am actually feeling pretty confident,” she said. “I am really happy that I can continue on my career in college. That is what I’ve been wanting to do. I’m really pumped for that. I will always be pushed in every college race.”
She will be visiting the University of Pittsburgh this coming weekend, followed by High Point in North Carolina next week, and then Penn State in two weeks.
“She’s exploring a lot of opportunities right now and has generated interest from a lot of Division I schools right down through Division III ranks,” Jones said. “She hasn’t made any decisions yet, but she will make a great recruit for somebody.”
T.J. Turrisi can be reached at 724-6370, ext. 276 or by e-mail at tjturrisi@meadvilletribune.com.
