Throughout the first two years of high school cross country career, Jessica Bailey hated running.
Which, obviously, wasn’t a good thing.
But Bailey’s times began to improve during her junior season and so did her outlook about the sport. She finished her Polk County career as a four-year member of the Wolverine cross country and track teams.
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And she plans to do more running in the future.
Bailey has accepted an invitation to join the cross country program at Salem College in Winston-Salem. She celebrated that decision Wednesday during a ceremony in the school library.
“I feel great,” Bailey said about her decision to run at Salem, where she plans to pursue a biology or pre-med degree. “I like that they have a small community and the campus as a whole.”
The Division III Spirits are members of the Great South Athletic Conference. Salem placed two runners on last year’s all-conference squad.
A beaming Polk County head coach Alan Peoples said he couldn’t be happier for Bailey/
“She has come as far as anyone I’ve ever coached,” Peoples said. “She’s not the physically strongest, but she does not quit. I’ve seen her cross a finish line crying, but she never quits.
“When she gets there, her muscles will continue to develop as they work on weights, and she’ll get faster. I wouldn’t be surprised to see her get into the low 20s (minutes for a 5k race).”
Bailey is just happy to be continuing to run – which is something she wouldn’t have said a few years ago.
“When I started my freshman year, I didn’t like it,” she said. “But my times started getting better and I started enjoying it.”
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