This is a printer-friendly version of an article from Zip06.com.
04/12/2019 12:00 AMTessa Fridell has experienced some setbacks by enduring a few injuries during her career as a runner at Guilford High School. However, Tessa persisted through the pain and overcame the adversity, while learning that life is a marathon—not a sprint.
Tessa is a junior who’s run cross country and track for the Indians since she was a freshman. As a sophomore, Tessa endured a hip injury in cross country that affected her performance throughout the rest of the year.
In her junior year, Tessa got started on the comeback trail and wound up smoothing out a few bumps to put together a solid season. She claimed first place in the JV race at the SCC Championship on a day that saw the Indians’ varsity squad win its second-straight conference title.
Now, Tessa has taken her momentum into the outdoor track season, where she’s competing in the 1,600 and the 3,200. Tessa has already qualified for states in the latter event.
“I had a good year as a freshman, but the hip injury kept me in and out of seasons as a sophomore. I didn’t expect to have that strong a year for cross country this fall, and I still had some injuries to deal with, but I had a good SCC race,” Tessa says. “I haven’t had many complete seasons so far, but my love for the sport and for the people I do it with keep me going. My coaches have also been so helpful and supportive, too.”
Tessa really enjoys the races where she has to go in it for the long haul. Tessa feels there’s a certain artistry that comes with running distance events like the mile and two-mile.
“Because of cross country, I am a distance runner and kind of gravitate towards those events. I have more endurance than speed,” Tessa says. “I like how in distance events, I get to build up endurance over time. It’s almost like you can shape a race.”
Speaking more to that art form, Tessa knows how important pacing is when it comes to traversing a big course. That’s why Tessa tries to stay contained in those opening moments at the beginning of a race.
“When it comes to my strategy, I don’t like to start out going too fast. I like to gradually get faster,” says Tessa. “I make sure I have even pacing, because it can be really easy to screw up the pace in the first mile.”
While the injuries have hindered her physically, Tessa says the experience of working her way back taught her a lesson about resiliency. Girls’ cross country and outdoor track Head Coach Jon Rivera notes that Tessa helped the Indians in any way possible when she was sidelined—and did so while brimming with positivity.
“Tessa has had many seasons the last couple of years shortened and or taken away by injury, but the impressive thing is she has never lost her determination and work ethic to get back. When she was hurt, she was an amazing manager for us and always has been a leader, but we prefer her as a competitor,” says Rivera. “A testament to Tessa is that she has always been positive and continued to do exactly was has been prescribed to her. There are certain athletes you can’t help but root extra hard for, because they have been dealt a tougher hand, and Tessa is one.”
Staying healthy is Tessa’s top target as she hits the home stretch of her junior season. Looking to her senior year, Tessa wants to step up as a leader and help the Indians maintain their tradition of excellence on both the trails and the track.
“I’ve gotten off to a good start this spring and qualified for states in the two-mile in my first race,” Tessa says. “For cross country my senior year, we are losing Meredith Bloss, but we have a few strong runners, and we look to continue our recent success.”