What a great season for Pine Crest freshman Tsion Yared.  She represented Team Southeast at Nike Cross Nationals (NXN) finishing 39th overall and was the 7th fastest freshman girl across the line. 

The week prior to NXN, Ysion finished 4th at Nike Cross Regional (NXR) Southeast to earn her first bid to the highly toughted Nationals in Portland.

Tsion has been on the cusp of being amongst the nation's elite for awhile now.  She won her first State XC Championship as 7th grader and spent a good portion of her 8th grade year recoving from injury.

She roared back in 2016 winning the DDD Sommer Invitational, Pine Crest XC Invitational, Districts, and being the 2016 FHSAA 2A XC runner-up behind fellow NXN finalist and 2A State Champion Caitlin Collier.

Tsion recapped her Nike experience for us after she returned home to Florida in the midst of a very busy week.

Wednesday: Flying over to Portland

Heading to my dream place, Nike Cross Nationals in Portland Oregon, I sat next to a former NXN runner on the plane and she shared her experience from the previous year at NXN.  Her past experience made me super excited and full of energy. As we landed I noticed more previous NXN athletes with previous year’s Nike backpacks and that triggered me more and made me anxious to see all the gear that we will be receiving. I had a great conversation and lunch with my Florida teammate from Bolles, Caitlin Collier. The same night I had dinner with my three coaches; Coach Baur, Coach Brown and Coach Brittany.  The conversation and information sharing got me pumped and ready for the race.

Thursday: 1st day at Nike

The next morning, we arrived at the NXN athlete hotel and the hotel front door displayed a huge Nike Cross sticker just at the front door and that really got me even more excited. The check-in and registration began, I had a great healthy breakfast with the southeast girls and then after we took a bus and headed over to Nike headquarters, which is where we received our gear. The whole process how they presented our gear was incredible. They called each athlete’s name from southeast region while blasting pump up music and showed pictures of us as if we are on a TV show.  We then walked to our locker where they displayed our name on the top of our locker and had all of our gear!

Afterwards, we went on a campus run. The Nike track is pretty neat because it is located in the middle of woods. There were trees all around the track, but also trees in the middle of the track!  Our southeast team then ran a couple more miles around the Nike headquarters. We also visited the athlete’s lounge which was really cool because it had ping-pong tables and Nike shoes to test out and there was DJ playing music. Afterwards we had lunch back at the hotel and had some rest time before heading back to Nike headquarters for the opening ceremonies.

Friday: Course Preview

The next morning, Friday, they took us to the Glendoveer Golf Course for a course preview.  They also went in the athlete’s village which is an indoor area set up for warm-ups and our lockers.  Afterwards, the southeast girls ran the course together. The Nike team told us that we could not run on the actual course, but next to it on the cart path for the video cart.  The purpose of that was to keep the course intact so it wouldn’t be muddy for the day of the race.   While we were running, I noticed on my second lap that the grass turned into sloppy mud which prepared me for what I should expect for the race. As we approached the night it rained even more, so I told myself to expect a very muddy race, knowing the rain would make it even messier. That same night, after dinner, Nike had an athlete panel discussion event. Some of the athletes on stage from the Nike Oregon Project & Bowerman track club, Shalane Flanagan, Galen Rupp, Hassan Mead, and Mo Farah, which was really cool. The Nike qualifiers got a chance to ask them questions. It was really inspirational to have so many talented athletes sharing their journey with us:)

Saturday: Race day

Saturday morning, the day of the race, I had healthy breakfast at the hotel and then headed to the course. It was a little chilly out, so I layered up and then I went on to my warm-up with Coach Brittany.  After warm-ups we met back in the athlete’s village and then got ready for the introductions. We headed to the finish line for the introduction which was really cool.  The southeast team holds hands together and runs out from the finish line, and everyone was cheering. After we got to the starting line we had an extra 15 to 20 minutes so I got in a couple of strides before the race started. As soon as the gun went off, I took off as hard as I could. Coming into the race, I knew there were going to be many talented runners, so I tried to get out fast to not get caught up in the pack. Being from South Florida I am not used to the mud, absorbing surface and the ups and downs of the course, so that definitely challenged me. Overall I really enjoyed the race.  It was really fun and a great feeling to place 39th overall and be the #7 freshman. Afterwards, we got to see the boy’s race, and then the open race where my younger sister Mahdere Yared participated and did very well. We headed to the hotel, showered and went back to Nike for dinner and the closing ceremonies. At the ceremony we had the men’s half marathon world record holder, Zersenay Tadese, spoke to us giving us advice about how hard work pays off. At the end of the night the Southeast girls and myself got together and had a lot of fun at the dance. I feel like I have gotten so close with them throughout the entire trip. We all felt that we are on the same team. I would really like to see the Pine Crest team come up next year because it was honestly an experience of a lifetime. Having four of my coaches, Coach Baur, Coach Brown, Coach Terri and Coach Brittany there had a huge impact on my running experience at the Nike Cross Nationals Race. Thank you coaches!!

The next morning, I had to wake up at 3:30 AM to get on my flight. The minute I left I started to miss the whole experience already!  I can’t wait for the opportunity to return next year!!!

Tsion's XC Profile - http://www.athletic.net/CrossCountry/Athlete.aspx?AID=6014128#/L0

Tsion Track Profile - http://www.athletic.net/TrackAndField/Athlete.aspx?AID=6014128#/L0

RELATED - Watch Tsion's Interviews from NXN - Pre-Race Here | Post-race Here

RELATED - Watch the NXN Webcast Replay HERE