A new level of competition has brought out a new level of confidence in Lakin Hailey. The Tennessee Tech freshman has embraced the demands of collegiate cross country, using each race and workout to discover just how much potential she can unlock.
The Southern Conference recently named Hailey as its runner of the week following a series of high-ranking performances during her first collegiate season.
Hailey said she was already prepared for the workload because she completed a high volume of mileage during her senior year of high school.
“My coach is a really good coach and he’s definitely helped me improve,” Hailey said. “I can feel myself getting stronger with every workout and I think that being in the college races has helped me a lot as well because it’s a whole new level of training and racing.”
Hailey said her confidence has grown as she has become more familiar with the collegiate format and how her times compare to other runners. Hailey said she has helped her team finish in the top 15 in multiple races throughout the early portion of the season.
“I was very honored and I was shocked because I didn’t expect to be getting that as a freshman,” Hailey said. “I kind of thought maybe as a senior possibly or a junior at the minimum. But when I saw it, my coach texted me and I was thinking, ‘Oh my gosh, I can’t believe this.’ And I do want to give all the glory to God because he has helped me so far to get to this point and it’s just been amazing.”
Hailey said the transition to Tennessee Tech was made easier by joining a group of teammates who share her specific training goals. Hailey said she previously lacked training partners who were interested in running at the collegiate level.
“I just get that runner’s high and it’s the team’s just been so amazing and they’re such fun people to be around and I just have some of my best memories with my cross-country team in the past and I’m already forming a ton of new ones here with this team with the few races we’ve gone to and it’s just such a good team culture,” Hailey said.
Hailey said she believes she has significant potential to continue her success as the season progresses. Hailey said she and her coach are in agreement regarding the goals they have set for her performance.
“I think that I have a lot of potential because I can feel myself already improving and I know like my coach has told me like where he wants my goals to be and I’m like, ‘Okay, like I agree with that. That’s what I had in mind,'” Hailey said. “And we both think that it’s possible and I think with his training it’s especially possible. And I think that I’ve never been in college running and so I think that I’ll be able to take off once I get further and further into the season.”
