McKenna Spillar, senior, started running cross country at the beginning of 7th grade, where she attended Falcon Bluffs Middle School. Now a senior at Dakota Ridge High School, cross country has been Spillar's passion for five years now.

It is the only sport she has played because it is simply her passion. Watching her dad before her teenage years, she says, "My dad's been a runner all his life, and I just always wanted to do that and run like him."  

She feels it is a very exhilarating sport. Although Cross Country is a fun sport to bond with other athletes and friends, it is a very time-consuming commitment. The Dakota Ridge Cross Country team meets after school every day at 3:00, until they need to be done; there is never a set end time, because they all want to reach the best that they can be.

"It's a big commitment; it's worth it," Spillar says

Spillar does a lot to take care of herself, so that she is always in the best condition to run.

"I always drink a lot of water,for sure, and eat healthy," says Spillar, which is always important and comes first in any sport. 

Every sport requires taking care of the body, such as getting enough sleep, drinking plenty of water, and most importantly, eating healthy.

"Just the little things are very important," Spillar says.

McKenna Spillar is a very successful cross country runner, placing first and second in the majority of meets and invitationals.

After running, she says, "[I'm] exhausted, but really excited, realizing I ran my best and gave it myall."

The Dakota Ridge Cross Country team has always been thought of as one large, close family. Spillar runs with the most encouraging people, and everyone loves everyone. Every single teammate is always building each other up, which a key factor in this type of sport.

Cayli Hume, freshman, says, "There's so much about McKenna to love. She's been a huge part of unifying our team and making us believe in ourselves. She's so positive and she lifts me up higher than I ever thought I could be. Ever since my brother joined the Cross Country team, I really looked up to her and I still do. I have so much respect for her and the immense amount of strength she's shown this season. People like McKenna don't come around often and I am truly honored to be her teammate."

Spillar has obviously been a huge inspiration towards everyone on the team. She is an extremely positive person, even when life brings her down.

On a trail run in early August, Spillar sprained her ankle. She was on crutches for 12 days, and was not able to run for six weeks. Losing out on a lot of training during those six weeks, she made trips to Boulder quite often for physical therapy.

"It was a bad and a not fun setback, but I tried to stay positive and do whatever I could to get back,"says Spillar.

Nearly going to Chatfield Senior High School, she felt that their cross country team was not very good.

"I decided to open enroll in Dakota Ridge, and I love it so much here, and I'm glad I came. Our coaches are fantastic coaches," says Spillar.

She definitely wants to run in college, and has also been talking to a few division one colleges about running on their teams.