This year, only one runner from Carlsbad’s cross country team was sent to state championships. Freshman, Hannah Hartwell. Running competitively since age 10, Hartwell attended state championships in Fresno, California placing 80th out of more than 200.

However, as a first time runner in state, Hartwell had no idea what to expect, but despite that, she trained and was prepared to race.

“State was really fun and cool because there were faster runners than my previous races this season,” Hartwell said. “After the race I felt pretty happy because I had no idea what place I would get before the race.”

The stakes were high and the intensity of running at state presented an intimidating endeavor for Hartwell. To succeed, she trained often and became very motivated through her peers.

“I worked very hard and the week before practice some of my teammates came out and ran with me to prepare for it,” Hartwell said.

As a freshman and newcomer to the team, the challenge of building relationships and training at an advanced level, helped her adapt to the varsity team.

“Hannah works super hard and she came to the team not knowing very many people.” junior Courtney Drisko said. “We made friends with her and she’s worked so hard to get to the level she’s at now.”

Although the entire team was determined to qualify, Hartwell was extremely driven to make it to state championships.

“We were all motivated just as much as she was but it came down to how fast she was,” Drisko said. “She also really wanted to go to state and she tried her best to get there.”

The spirit of competition motivated Hartwell to outdo herself by beating her own record.  The team as a whole was on the brink of making it to state, but lost out due to inadequate times in their qualifying race. However, the 2015 girls ran the fastest the had run in the past nine years.

“My time running at state, was one of the fastest I’ve ever achieved,” Hartwell said. “We were all close to making it to state but it just came to who were the top runners at the CIF race.”