2020 STANCO DISTANCE SCHOLARSHIP

For the third year I am awarding a scholarship to a graduating StanCo Distance runner. This year I was hoping for a lot of applications given that the kids were under quarantine. I thought this "free" time was a perfect opportunity for them to complete the application. I received 8 applications (less than last year).

I had a rubric this year to score the applications due to the outcry by a few people last year. As frustrated and disappointed as I was last year, the situation made me evaluate how I could improve the process. I think the rubric (which was made available to the coaches and all of the individuals who got the application from me) made the process smoother. I personally evaluated all of the paper work. There were 24 possible points. Two individuals scored 21 and another scored 20 points. As with all the past years, it is difficult to split hairs between those top few applicants. The slight difference often come from the essays. So I had my wife read the top three essays and give me her perspective. And her top pick of the three was the final deciding factor.

I want to thank these eight individuals for taking the time to complete the application and share their personal experiences with running. It is sometimes frightening to share such personal feelings and weaknesses. Those of us who run/or have run understand that each person has a unique relationship with the sport, yet as you read the passages you will find common themes. 

What I am including now are excerpts from their essays. I want to clarify that these do NOT represent the entire essays or the entire scored application. These selections are meant to give you a taste of how distance running has affected these eight individuals. I am typing the passages as they were presented to me. They are in alphabetical order...

Here is the writing prompt: How has distance running positively changed/influenced your life?

BAILEE HELTON (ENOCHS)
Bailee ran three years of track and two years of XC. She intends to attend MJC next year with an eye to majoring in Biology.

...Joining cross country and competing in my first race was the best feeling. I got first for my school and continued to every race my junior year. This was such a surprise to me since I didn't expect to be good or even compete with the other girls from my school. I've struggled with body dysmorphia and eating disorders since middle school but staying in shape has helped those disappear. I've learned to love myself for the way I am all thanks to running. Today, running has kept me away from so many bad influences I'm surrounded by in school or depressing ideas in my head. Whenever I feel those thoughts coming to mind, I can just get ready and go on a run until I become over everything. Without running I don't know where I would be or if I would ever find meaning for myself. It's brought the most love and friendships I've ever received in a sport and I'm so thankful for that...

NAOMI MITCHELL (BEYER)
Naomi ran all four years of XC and 4 years of track (2 in distance events). Her future plans are to attend UC Santa Cruz and major in Environmental Studies

...Being in a leadership role encouraged me to interact and engage with everyone individually and meet diverse groups of people. I've met two of my best friends at the start of my freshman year and by participating in both sports, we've become inseparable. ...As someone who suffers from anxiety, I am quick to feel overwhelmed. Once I feel like this, it's much easier to give up than to finish and to finish strong but, with running, I have been able to push myself to my limits, overpowering the fears that say, "What if I can't do it?" and that lingering thought of being the last to finish. Six years of competitive running has changed my mentality from being unsure of myself to increasing my self-confidence. Running has encouraged me to feel good about myself and do anything I set me mind to. ...

MARCOS PIMENTEL (HUGHSON)
Marcos ran three years of track and two of XC. He intends to go to MJC and focus on Graphic design.

...Running completely changed my life. The way I eat, sleep, and use my time. I learned so much information, I never knew. I started eating way healthier, cooking my own meals and deciding if I should or not eat a certain food. I progressively  moved into 8-9 hours of sleep slowly until I noticed the significance of the help it did. I started time managing to run before I work or after. Running before school. The more I got serious about this sport. The more I lived it. ... Distance running has helped dramatically. I used to be stressed out about home issues or school. However I now go on a run to relieve this stress. I would call it my medicine. Distance running to me was the missing part of my life I didn't have before. I feel complete, I feel unstoppable. My mental health is stronger than it ever was before. ...

JACQUELINE RODRIGUEZ (CERES)

Jackie ran four years XC and 2 years of track. She plans to initially attend MJC and major in Communication Sciences

...During my first year of high school, my anxiety was out of control. I had countless panic attacks during school and tried many things to make it better or make it go away and nothing was working.  I decided to give cross country a try, not because I thought it would make my anxiety go away, but because I wanted to be really fast and conditioned in time for soccer season. What I quickly learned about distance running was that it was not really about physical capabilities but rather about mental strength. This is the same case for anxiety. ... When you are in a race, your body starts to give out and your mind is screaming at your body to stop running and the mind wants to take over. At the same time, there is a small part of your mind that tells you, "keep going, run faster, you're almost there." Listening to that part of your mind and getting it to be in agreement with your body is something I learned how to do while on the course. After I learned how to do that, I applied it to my life and my anxiety levels decreased tremendously. ...

ANASTASIA TOSCANO (RIVERBANK)
Anastasia ran all four years of XC and two years of track. She intends to go to UC Davis and major in Neurobiology, Physiology, and Behavior.

...When I tore my ACL during my junior year in soccer, I thought I wasn't going to be able to run again. After surgery, physical therapy, etc, everyone told me not to run again. My love for distance running couldn't be stopped by my injury. Even though I had to miss my junior year track season, I ran in my last year of cross country. I felt like I wouldn't have been able to get through my injury emotionally or physically if I hadn't run distance running. I picked myself up when I tore my ACL. Even though it was painful and emotionally taking a toll on me I always thought of running. I thought of how much pain I went through on the last 400m of a 2 mile race and how hard it was to run 10 miles on a hot Saturday. I thought of all the times I felt like quitting, but didn't. Running has given me strength and has shown me that my body can undergo major pain. Moreover, distance running has taught me patience in my recovery and in my life. Distance running has taught me that good things come to those who wait and work hard. Distance running has also taught me to take care of myself. ...

AIDAN WELLS (GREGORI)

Aidan ran all four years of XC and three years of track. His plans are to attend CP SLO and major in Environmental Management and Protection.

...It wasn't easy though. At 2016 subs, my team was just two points away from sections, and the following year I was 1.3 seconds off qualifying with my team, forced to cheer for them from the sidelines as they ran their final meet without me. Never one for mediocrity, these experiences lit a fire beneath me, and I became more driven, more passionate, and more focused than even my coaches would've expected. So what did I do? I bought short shorts. Two pairs to be exact. Seemingly irrelevant, this moment represented a change, as I was officially a distance runner. I debuted my new shorts at the 2018 MJC Invitational, destined to do great and I, uh,well I didn't do that. Two weeks later though, with my new mentality and drive, I PR'd in the 800 by seven seconds, and a week after I ran a mile 40 seconds faster than my freshman year. ...

ELIZETTE YAIS (HUGHSON)
Elizette ran all four years of both XC and track. Her future plans include attending Stan State and majoring in Biology.

... Distance running has taught me many life lessons and has made me grow as a person. In the beginning of freshman year, I was extremely shy and not so confident in myself as a runner. However, as time went on and I started training and getting to know my teammates, I started gaining confidence in myself. While I still can be shy at times, I believe I have grown to be more confident in myself. ...


And the 2019-2020 StanCo Scholarship winner is...
JONATHAN STALEY (WATERFORD)
Jonathan ran all four years of XC and track. he plans on attending UCLA and majoring in Mathematics.

...When I was in middle school, finding friends was difficult for me. Sadly I ended up falling in with a group of people that treated me terribly. They constantly told me that they were better than me at everything and I believed it. Running was one of the few things that allowed me to see my own worth. Through challenges and adversity, running has been a constant allowing me to overcome and thrive. ...Looking back on my running career, my story does not highlight great success or impressive records. Instead it shows how running can provide shelter from the outward storms of life. Instead it demonstrates how running can change someone from the inside out. Ultimately my story tells how a sport led a young, socially awkward kid through a dramatic metamorphosis into a confident, self-assured leader.


Just in case anyone reads this far...the photo collages were created from my own files of about 150,000 pics from the past 4 years these individuals were in HS. I attempted to show at least one shot from XC and one from track. If the uniform changed or there was a significant physical change, I included additional shots. For each of these runners and many other StanCo seniors, I uploaded a file of all the photos I could find of them to an album connected to my Facebook page.