Alex Buck is a senior at Pendleton Heights High School in Indiana. She had a rollercoaster end of the season finishing 70^th at the Indiana State Championships in Terre Haute on October 31. She came back two weeks later on the same course to finish fifth at the Nike Cross Midwest Regional Meet qualifying her for the NXN Nationals in Portland on December 5. Buck also signed her national letter of intent to attend the University of New Mexico beginning next fall. Alex was gracious to take a few minutes out of her busy school schedule to write a little about her season so far.

Major Running Accomplishments

• 19th at Indiana State XC Meet 2013
• Footlocker National Finalist 2013
• 8th at Indiana State XC Meet 2014
• NXN Qualifier 2015

 PR’s - 1600m – 5:12; 3200m – 11:07; 5k (XC) – 17:24

My high school running career started to take off when I medaled at the State XC Meet my sophomore year.  Then just a few weeks after that, I unexpectedly grabbed the final qualifying spot to Footlocker.  My sophomore track season was unfortunately cut short due to injury, so I remained under the radar for the most part.  Much of my junior cross country season was spent trying to catch up and regain speed. Thankfully I ended the season with two great postseason races.  Unfortunately, neither was quite enough to allow me to return to national competition.  Shortly after my postseason ended, another injury was discovered and I had to sit out my entire junior track season to recover and work on strengthening to prevent future injuries.  I was able to return to unrestricted training in June, which means that I have had an entire season to get to where I am now.  And I have loved every minute of it!

At this year’s state cross country meet all the factors were in place: I was healthy, strong, and had a chance to win.  I predicted my biggest competition to be Sarah Leinheiser from Carmel, and I was correct.  Sarah and I broke away from the field just past the half way mark and the race was going almost as I expected.  I seemed to be more tired and winded than normal, but I chose to not worry about it and focus on the race.  However, it became an obvious problem when I began to fall back FAST.  I rounded the final stretch in second place and ended up finishing in 70th.  Looking back on it now, I do not believe I ate enough prior to the 2pm race.  You could say I simply ran out of gas.  I wanted that state title, so yes it hurt and was disappointing, but it’s not the end of the world.  I’m glad that I went for it, regardless of the result.

Two weeks after state I’m back for another go-round on the LaVern.  Taking into consideration my fueling issue from a few weeks prior, I made sure to eat a huge breakfast.  I knew I was still in great shape and hoped to finish in the top five.  As the race took off I settled in at the back of the lead pack which slowly decreased to about five girls.  It honestly felt like a replay of the state meet.  The pace was almost the exact same and I still had Sarah by my side.  I felt great and relaxed for almost the entire race.  First place was long gone and there were still five of us in the lead pack heading into the final stretch.  I could do the math, it was time to go!  After a very long and crazy 400m I crossed the finish in 5th place, punching my ticket to Portland!  For all the time I have spent not being able to run, it makes me appreciate the sport so much more.  So when everything comes together for a finish like this, I am extra grateful for the opportunity.