Four state cross-country qualifications in four years, placing in the top 15th in districts for all four years, and two top ten finishes are just a few of Ella Walsh’s accomplishments. But most don’t even know the full story.
Ella Walsh, senior, was diagnosed with a rare form of cancer at a young age. Due to this challenge, Ella says she “didn’t make a ton of social connections because [she] was isolated while going through treatment.” In the remission process, Ella also felt “separation anxiety when [her] family wasn’t directly with [her]. For example, going on playdates or attending pre-school were difficult events for [her]. [She] was very shy. It took time before [she] felt more comfortable and was able to make connections with people and learn.” Overcoming these challenges is seen in her “motivation and willingness to strive for things comes from knowing [she has] gone through something much more difficult.”
As far as sports go, Ella “didn’t enjoy the social aspect of sports because of how shy [she] was, so being involved in sports and activities was [her] worst nightmare.” It was her parents that encouraged her to first join the CYO Cross Country team. Although she was initially scared about joining the team, she “gained so much from running and wanted to do it beyond CYO.” Now, she is involved in the high school XC team and couldn’t be happier about that decision.
Through running, Ella says, “has given [herself] so much determination,” she goes on to say, “[She] has reached many goals by just continuing to put in my best effort and push myself.” Running has also “given [her] more confidence knowing [her] abilities. [She] has had many accomplishments within running that only improve [her] self-esteem.”
Her final words of advice for other runners is, “There’s never a bad run except the one you didn’t do. Don’t beat yourself up for not getting the results you wanted. Just keep running!”
