On Saturday, October 10th, Sophomore Bethany Druse ran the race of her life. With a time of 19:08, Druse is now the fastest girls cross country runner in SHS history, crushing a 21-year-old record of 19:15 set by Shauna Burrell in 1999. 

During the meet prior to her record race, Druse ran a 20:21 giving her a 73-second improvement.

“Honestly, it’s just so unreal I did that like I just don’t believe it,” expresses Druse, I feel very happy because this is a big deal for me,” said Druse. 

The Seaman community is extremely proud of Druse’s accomplishment, especially Coach Rick Brading. Both Druse and Brading are excited for what is to come in the future.

“It’s actually a very emotional thing because 20-ish years ago I was coaching the girl that set that record, and I was very excited for Bethany because it may be another 20 years for something like that to happen again. But for [Bethany] maybe it’ll be next year or maybe even this year,” says Brading. 

Running under 20 minutes became Druse’s goal after her freshman year cross country season (her first cross country season). Since Druse accomplished that in less than a year, her new goal is to run under 19 minutes. 

Druse’s love for cross country runs further than the race. 

“My favorite part about cross-country is just hanging around all the girls. It’s just so much fun because they’re all just so nice and they just support you and I really like that,” explains Druse. 

Druse still has the regional and state meets to run this season with hopes to break her own record. The cross country team, coaches, and parents are all proud of what Druse has accomplished this season and are excited to watch the rest of her journey.