Senior Megumi Ludlow is lined up at the starting line with her competitors at the 5A State Championship on the morning of Nov. 6. The tension runs high in the air as they wait for the gun that would set them off. People’s breaths are sucked in as they wait, and wait, and wait- BOOM! The girls that had been waiting moments before were already racing off, the crowd roaring in excitement. 

Ludlow pushed in front of the pack to score second on the podium at the State meet at Lane Community College, with a time of 18:53.10., despite the multiple girls that had known better times that were competing against her. 

Q: What were you able to accomplish in state? 

A: I was able to make it to State, which is something I never thought I would be able to do again. I went to State once my sophomore year because we made it as a team. I think we were able to pull through and make it because, in cross country, it’s the top four teams that go to state and top seven individuals within a district. For example, if one person got 2nd place and another got 15th place, that’s 17 points altogether; I think West Albany got third or fourth place as a team because teams go by placement. I didn’t think I would ever be able to make it again because I knew that. We lost a lot of fast girls last year, and the year before. So I was like, “Well, this is probably my last chance to ever make it to state,” and I was able to make it individually.

Q: How did you feel before, during, and after the state race? 

A: Before state I was extremely stressed. I wasn’t sure how this would go because I was racing against a lot of fast girls. I was only ranked fifth in the state, I knew I was going against four other girls that were definitely faster than me. So I was worried about that. There was also traffic on the highway because we needed to drive ourselves up. Everything was very panic inducing. 

Right before we started, I was dead calm because of the apprehension waiting for it to start. When we were waiting to go, they told us to start at the gun.When they blew the whistle to alert people of our match that was about to begin, everyone did a little jump forward. 

During the race I was very much in the zone, trying to keep to my plan and trying not to focus on running and how tired I was. I was very, very tired during the race, it was just so fast. 

But then after the race I was just super happy. I was able to place second.

Q: Do you wish you did anything differently leading up to the race? 

 A: I was able to have a very good plan leading up to it, so I honestly think I wouldn’t have changed anything about it because I think I did the best that I could have ever done in a race. Maybe I could have been drinking more water as I probably was slightly dehydrated, but that’s fine. 

Q: What did you need to do to prepare for this? 

A: To prepare to go to State, I trained since the end of track season. I probably put in more than 1000 miles during the summer just so I could do well. I went to a cross country camp to learn about things, and I learned that I was anemic. They had a nutritionist talk to us in a seminar and she told us to do a blood test to check if we are anemic because a lot of people are. When I took a blood test, I discovered I was super anemic. As soon as I started taking iron I was running a lot faster, and I just seemed to drop all my times by a lot, which was cool to see. 

Q: Do you have any recommendations for somebody who really wants to get into cross country?

A: The best way to get into cross country is to just start running, because the only way you can get better is to practice by running. Even if you’re slow, it’s all gonna pay off in the end because you’re just gonna continuously be speeding, getting faster and faster. 

Q: Do you have any role models that helped you get where you are today, or people who have motivated you? 

A: I looked up to Annie Berry, who was a star runner of WAHS during her years of running. She was one of the people that I knew to sub 20 (to get under 20 minutes), and I was wanting to sub 20 most of my years in highschool.  When I was a freshman/sophomore, I idolized Roger Bannister who was the first person in the world to break the four minute mile. I’ve always looked up to him as a runner, because he is very determined to break psychological barriers. After last year I felt like I was stuck in a psychological barrier.

I just wanted to break 20, that was my goal. Then this year, I broke 20 and 19 in the same race. That was a crazy moment for me. 

Q: Do you see yourself accomplishing more like this within the future, and if so, what are you hoping to be able to accomplish? 

A: I’m hoping to run at college. Ever since this race, I’ve had offers from multiple colleges about running, but with my time I can run a division one college, so I’m going to try to run division one.