Fighting to the finish line
May 2, 2018
This past cross country season, junior Kelsea Filippi felt a pain on the lower left side of her body. The pain she had stopped her from running for the rest of the season and left many open questions about the issue. As time has gone by, Kelsea has been able to slowly ease into running and throwing for the track and field team.
Filippi has been running since sophomore year and started because she needed a new activity to do. This past season Filippi had started to feel uncomfortable pains on her side.
“I had gone to the hospital for side pains and when cross country started and I was running again the pain was just getting worse,” Filippi said.
As the season progressed, Filippi had to shift from participating in meets to supporting her team from the sidelines. Filippi showed her dedication to the sport when she continued to attend all practices along with the meets. She always loves to support her team, but at times it got frustrating when she knew she could not run with them.
“It was upsetting because everyone around me was improving and I couldn’t,” Filippi said.
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Through all of these recent challenges, her friends have supported her through this journey and helped her prepare herself in case she needs to have surgery.
“Emotionally people have been there for me when I’m complaining and have assured me that I’ll be okay,” Flippi said. “Physically people have been more careful around me and my boyfriend lets me lean on him when things get bad.”
Filippi’s friends have proven their friendship with by having her back and helping carry her through all the season. Many of these friends have had first hand experience in seeing some of the biggest changes with Filippi during this time, including her struggle in having to stop running.
“I felt sad because she is very fun to run with and left me to deal with running on my own,” sophomore Courtney Neyhart said.
Neyhart and Filippi have always been friends, even before the pains. Neyhart had got to see how true and pure Filippi is as a runner and as a person throughout their friendship.
“I love how Kelsea is always there no matter what is going on with her,” Neyhart said. “She is extremely understanding and I hope I can be the very same one day.”
Even after going through the pains and not knowing the cause of them, there is still the hope of running again. There is a possibility for Filippi to continue running in the future. There is always a light at the end of the tunnel, or for her case at the finish line.
“I hope that my pain will get diagnosed and I’ll be able to run again soon,” Filippi said.
