Every year, the Bellarmine Girls Cross Country Team awaits the opportunity to compete at the State Championship with excitement. Senior runner and 2018 State Champion, Ella Borsheim, is exceptionally excited to compete. The Covid-19 pandemic impeded her opportunity to compete at the State Championships during her junior season, though with the return to school earlier this year the State Championship is on, and she is ready to race. The State Championship will take place in Pasco, WA on Saturday, Nov. 6.

Borsheim said she is most looking forward to, “having State back because the last State was sophomore year which was so long ago, so just being able to be back there is awesome. I’m really looking forward to seeing what the team can do together. We have been improving every week and gaining a lot of momentum, so I am excited to see what we can do together.”

Borsheim and her teammates have been preparing for the State Championship since the summer. Coach Matthew Ellis introduced a running log or journal to the team over the summer. He asked them to journal about their run or workout each day, writing down how they felt physically during the run, how they were feeling emotionally before, during, and after the run, and how they want to improve for their next run. He has asked them to continue to journal when the cross country season started in August and they have kept up with their journals throughout the cross country season.

Borsheim feels prepared for the State Championship as she said, “I think we have had some really good physical training, lots of really good workouts to simulate the State course, but also just working on the mental side of things, visualizing how it’s going to go and what can happen, trying to prepare yourself for what can come up.” The mental side of running is very real and often goes unnoticed. The introduction of the running logs to the cross country team this year is a great step in recognizing the importance of mental health in sport.

Coach Ellis refers to the State Championship as “The Big Dance.” The State Championship is the cross country team’s last chance to prove themselves, to prove that their training has prepared them for this moment, and to prove that they put in the work to be the best runners they can be. This can be nerve racking, but Borsheim feels calm, cool, and collected.

Borsheim said, “I’m not really that nervous. I think that I have prepared really well and I think the team has prepared well. We are feeling really confident going into this weekend and we are feeling excited about what we can do.”

The Bellarmine community is so proud of the Girls Cross Country Team and especially of Ella Borsheim. Earlier this year Borsheim committed to further her academic and athletic career at the University of Washington. Borsheim’s dedication to the sport and her teammates is inspiring. The school is excited to see what she will do both at the state and collegiate level.