Everything was going great for senior Erin Herwehe in her first-ever cross country race as a new runner on the SMS team as a sixth grader.

Turning the corner, Herwehe could hear her name being cheered for, making her think she was in first place. 

“I thought I was in first place and people were yelling out my name, so I thought they were cheering me on, because I was in first place,” Herwehe said. “But really, I just took a wrong turn.”

In this clear memory from her career, she’s gone through many struggles. Despite all the hardships from 6th grade through high school, her passion and love for the sport have led her to become one of the team captains of the SHS girls’ cross country team.

When she made the change from middle school to high school, the sport became more physical and mentally demanding as she ran alongside more experienced runners.

In her sophomore and junior seasons, there were less runners, which put more pressure on everyone on the team and caused struggles for the runners.

“My freshman year, we had about 20 girls. Now we’re down to seven,” Herwehe said. “It’s I think numbers, getting people to actually come out for the sport has been hard.”

Now being able to look back as a senior, Herwehe has seen how far she has come through her high school years, which keeps her motivated to come back every day.

“I think running better now to prove to my younger self to just keep going,” Herwehe said. “Just to keep myself positive … and just prove to myself that I’m stronger than what my brain and mind think it is.

During her four years at SHS, she has learned to take over a leadership role from past runners, similar to a 2023 alumna Cece Mitchell.

The skills that Herwehe has possessed have translated to where her teammates have seen her growth in leadership from freshman year to now. 

“I’ve seen her grow a lot because when we were freshmen, she was still loud and enthusiastic, she didn’t really lead as much,” senior Halle Kenyon said. “But now Erin … takes a lead, she leads our warm ups, gets our warmups started, leads our stretches and then encourages all of the slower runners to keep on going and keep on running and to not give up at all.”

Another motivation for her is running in college. Knowing that colleges are looking at her is a reason why her senior season is important to her as a runner.

“It’s very important because colleges are definitely looking at you,” Herwehe said. “You have all eyes on you as your last year … So I think going into a senior season with a new coach, working harder, training harder, new meets on the schedule, all that. I think senior year is going to be important because we have all these new opportunities.”

Herwehe is now able to put more focus on this season after deciding to quit dance, a sport that she has competed in for 16 years, to shift all of her focus on cross country.

The new head girls cross country coach, Ericka Austin, has seen Herwehe overcome this obstacle throughout the summer.

“Her main struggle was with dance and running, trying to balance it out,” Austin said. “Now she dropped dance and is 100 percent dedicated to running.”

While she loved dance and it had been a passion for years, she was willing to make the sacrifice for herself and her teammates.

She has had an impact on her teammates through leadership, love and the mentality to keep going.

“Erin’s an amazing person,” Kenyon said. “I love her so much, and I love running with her and she’s an amazing leader.”