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Name: Marianne Barber
School: Farmington
One of my most memorable moments will forever be when our girl's team took region my senior year. It was amazing to watch every single girl work their hardest and cheer each other on so that we could get the title. I ran the 4x4 at that meet and I will never forget the amount of joy our team felt after we won that race, securing our region title. As for my most memorable race, it would have to be the BYU invite 100 and 200 finals where I raced with all the top sprinters in Utah, they were very fun races, and we all ran PR's.
My biggest competition changed throughout each year of high school, but by far, my greatest competition came from this year, as I got to race against Amare Harlan, Sarah Ballard, Kristen Cook, Elyse Jessen, Madi Durrant, Kylie Olsen, and many other amazing athletes that pushed me to be the best I could be. Thank you all for being such great competitors and friends!
I think my greatest accomplishment would be taking first in the 400 at state this past year. Having my teammates and friends to cheer me on helped me race my best race, setting a pr as well as winning the race.
It's hard to know something that I would change but if I had to choose something, it would be to enjoy every second of time with my team because it really goes by so fast. I would tell my past self to also enjoy the 400 work, even though it sucks, it truly helps me get better. Hard work truly pays off!
I was lucky enough to never miss a track season because of injury. I had to battle a toe injury throughout my junior season, but I was able to race through it until surgery in the summer. While I had to miss some races due to that pain, I was able to overcome it and still race my hardest.
I will definitely miss the friendships I have gained with both teammates and coaches. I was truly blessed to have amazing and supportive teammates and coaches who wanted me to do my best. Our team truly felt like a family, and I will miss them all greatly.
I would tell younger athletes to enjoy the ride. There are hard workouts that make you want to give up or make you second guess yourself, but keep going! It is all worth it, and if you find ways to enjoy it, your experience will be all the better. Enjoy getting to know new people, track people are the best and they will become some of your closest friends!
I have had many different sprint coaches throughout my track career, but each one of them believed in me and helped me push my limits to become the best athlete I could be. They have been there to help me accomplish my goals, and I couldn't be more grateful for each of them. Thank you coach Brower for believing that a little freshman could come run with the high schoolers and go on to do amazing things because of it and for pushing me to work hard every day! And thank you to all my other coaches who believed in me when I sometimes didn't believe in myself.
I am very excited to run track at BYU beginning in the fall!
I would like to say thank you to my amazing parents who have come to every single meet and who have helped me know I could accomplish my goals. I would like to thank all of my best friends that I have gained from track for always being there for me, and picking me up after my hard races. And I would of course love to thank all of those who have videoed and taken the amazing pictures of me throughout my high school career.
Forever the first, forever the Phoenix!
