Freshman Perspective (Ashley Krause)

It has been awhile since our last post for the ACTF/XC blog and I thought it would be nice for one of our freshmen standouts Ashley Krause to write a post on how her year has been so far. So, hailing from Mars Area, PA, our All-Conference Triple Jumper.

Being a freshman in college, I thought that college track was going to be so much harder than high school track, and that it would consume all of my time here on campus.  While yes, the practices are harder, it is also a very rewarding feeling once you have a meet and realize that your times are dropping, your jump distances are increasing, or your throws are going farther.  Coming into the track season this year, I knew I wanted to long jump and sprint.  However, at our Indoor Championships, my coaches entered me into triple jump which I have not done in two years.  I was glad they did this because I ended up placing second in the meet.  Throughout practices, sometimes I feel like I might not be able to finish them on my own.  But Dominique Billingslea is always right there by my side keeping my spirits up and allowing me to gain that energy I need to finish.  She had competed this weekend at Washington and Jefferson, achieving a personal record in the 400 m dash with a time of 63.45 s, finishing with a third place overall.  Sarah Moss also had a great day at Washington and Jefferson, where she had tied for first place with a height of 5'4.25.  Everyone is so encouraging on this team towards each other, during practices and at meets.  I love being part of a team where they're not just your teammates, they're family.