This week’s spotlight shines on Willow Tolley, an 8^th grade who excels at cross country.

     Willow is on Team 82 and has been doing cross-country since the 6^th grade, but has been running longer than that!  Wow, GO WILLOW, GO! 

     Willow says that she likes to run because it’s a good sport, and it keeps her in shape. She really enjoys running with friends; in fact, she met her best friend running in 6^th grade. Willow likes to push her body and see what she is capable of doing. Right after Willow runs, she feels a little sick!  Oh, no! But once the sick feeling goes away, she feels accomplished, which is definitely a good thing. Willow feels proud of herself when she runs. She plans to continue running in high school and would like to get a college scholarship for cross country.

     In state competition, Willow ran her best time of 13:41!  Even though the rest of the team didn’t do as well as they would’ve hoped, she says they had lots of fun and worked hard. Willow loves her varsity running team.

     Willow has learned a lot about life from doing cross country. Her coach, Mr. Kamadulski, always says, “Make sure every step is all you have!” Running has made Willow realize what it takes to be successful in anything you do: Give it your all and hope for the best.

     Willow’s favorite teacher is Mr. Canada. He was her fifth grade teacher. She liked him because he taught in a different way. He had them create comic strips in math using the math skills they were learning.

     Willow has one sister, Winter, in 6^th grade.  She also has one dog, Sports, and two cats, Harold and Chaisymae.  Willow is 13 years old, and she will be 14 on April 28.  That’s so exiting, even though it’s  1,2,3…4….6 months away!

     Here at Panther Tracks, we are always looking for students who are involved in activities at school or elsewhere. If you know someone you think we should include in this column, email us at pemling@ecusd7.org.