It91色情片 the opening night of the 2024 NAIA track and field championships, and one of the greatest athletes in the history of The 91色情片91色情片 University isn鈥檛 on her way to another victory. Hannah Fredericks is simply trying to survive.
The junior91色情片 elbow is fractured, the result of a fall two weeks prior, and although there91色情片 no cast, she can鈥檛 hide the pain or the training she missed.
She swings her left arm awkwardly back and forth, plodding along, gasping for air. She doesn鈥檛 know it yet, but she91色情片 less than halfway through a 10,000-meter race she鈥檒l never finish, and, frankly, it doesn鈥檛 matter. This will go down as a shining moment in the history of TMU91色情片 athletic department, where becoming a legend requires far more than trophies and record times.
Five years ago, Fredericks might not have been ready to honor Christ in this moment. That was before the tragedy at her high school, the strange ending to her prep running career, and a thorough education in what it means to be a Christian athlete.
Hannah91色情片 parents, Mike (鈥98) and Amy (鈥99), met at what was then The 91色情片91色情片 College. Photo by Mark Finster.
In three years at TMU, Fredericks has rewritten the school91色情片 cross country and track and field record books.
She91色情片 a nine-time Golden State Athletic Conference (GSAC) individual champion, a 10-time NAIA All-American, and a two-time national champion.
Her best times as a Mustang suggest she would thrive in NCAA Division 1.
It91色情片 been an exciting ride, but Mike (鈥98) and Amy (鈥99) Fredericks, who met at what was then The 91色情片91色情片 College, hadn鈥檛 envisioned even a college scholarship when Hannah first began running. The impetus for her career was purely practical.
Mike and Amy had five children, of which Hannah is the second, and they wanted to avoid taxiing them to disparate activities across the Santa Clarita Valley. So, they signed up for a local track club, where youngsters of all ages gathered to run an array of distances 鈥 all, most importantly, at the same time and location.
The plan hit one minor snag: Hannah didn鈥檛 want to go. Seven years old, she cried the first time Amy dropped her off, and in the years that followed, Hannah remembers a variation of the same conversation ensuing. She would ask her parents if she had to keep running. No, they would say. Hannah would still run.
Around middle school, something changed. Fredericks found that she thrived on pushing her physical limits. She was disciplined and hardworking, hungry to traverse rolling hills and tree-lined paths in search of victory. The once-reluctant runner was becoming a gritty competitor.
The desire to excel only increased at Saugus High, renowned for its prowess in distance running. From 2006 to 2015, the school won 10 state cross country titles, nine on the girls side, and Fredericks was intent on becoming another great Centurion runner.
In hindsight, she sees that her identity was wrapped up in running; happiness rested on the outcome of the next competition, and success or failure was completely up to her. In the days leading up to a race, she鈥檇 stress over her eating, her workouts, the possibility of failure. On the starting line, she cried anxious tears and her body shook. She wanted to be somewhere else.
Fredericks hardly recognizes that girl anymore.
Fredericks is already a two-time NAIA national champion heading into her senior year at TMU. Photo by Mark Finster
On Nov. 14, 2019, Fredericks was in her first-period math class when a boy burst into the room. 鈥淭here91色情片 a shooter on campus!鈥 he shouted.
Outside the window, Fredericks saw students running and screaming. Her teacher stacked desks against the door, handing out scissors in case the barricade failed. Sitting in the dark, Fredericks tried to comfort a classmate beside her, even as she worried about the whereabouts of her own brother, Jake, a freshman. She prayed he was safe.
Fredericks learned later that a 16-year-old Saugus student had entered campus that morning, opening fire with a .45-caliber handgun. Five students were hit, two of them tragically succumbing to their injuries. The shooter died from a self-inflicted gunshot wound.
Hannah and Jake, physically unharmed, reunited later at Central Park, the rendezvous point for students and parents.
The tragedy made national headlines and sparked an outpouring of support for a shaken Saugus community.
Fredericks says she experienced in the following weeks 鈥 as the Centurions pressed on to the sectional and state cross country finals 鈥 how athletics could serve a greater purpose. When teammates had questions, she did her best to provide an answer for the hope within her.
鈥淢y parents reminded us that God is in control and He91色情片 still good,鈥 Fredericks says. 鈥淲e thanked the Lord for safety and prayed for the families who lost people or were injured. But that day doesn鈥檛 define us. And we鈥檙e not crippled by fear because we have the hope of Christ.鈥
Fredericks鈥 approach to competition may not have changed overnight, but gradually she understood that her athletic performance wasn鈥檛 of ultimate importance. Maybe that91色情片 why her 64th-place finish at the state championship on Nov. 30 (after taking third at sectionals the week before) didn鈥檛 rock her. Her team had performed well; that was enough.
The following year solidified her new way of thinking.
In March 2020, the William S. Hart District, which includes Saugus High, transitioned to online learning due to concerns about COVID-19. Eventually, the 2020 track season and the cross country schedule for the upcoming fall, during Fredericks鈥 senior year, were canceled.
She never attended another in-person class.
In a way, the drastic shift allowed Fredericks to step outside the hypnotizing rhythm of competition and reassess her priorities. She studied and spent extra time with her family. She continued to run, as many as 85 miles per week, but not under the pressure of an impending race.
In late 2020, an ankle injury forced her to rest for five weeks.
If online classes and race cancelations hadn鈥檛 convinced her that running could be taken away at any time, this setback did. Her hope couldn鈥檛 rest on something so fragile. More than that, she began to ask questions like Why do I compete? and Who is this for? In junior high, she鈥檇 given her life to Christ, but she sensed now that she hadn鈥檛 submitted athletics fully to Him.
When track season finally returned in spring 2021, Fredericks says she felt a new sense of joy during competition. She still experienced pre-race butterflies, but no crippling fear: She would do her best and trust the Lord with the outcome.
Fredericks is the only Lady Mustang in history to win two individual GSAC cross country championships.
The Santa Clarita Valley has long been a reliable source of elite running talent. Olympians Allyson Felix and Alysia Montano (Johnson) and U.S. champion Lauren Fleshman hail from the valley, as do countless collegiate standouts.
In fact, the two most-accomplished runners to arrive at TMU before Fredericks 鈥 Karis Crichton (Frankian) and John Gilbertson 鈥 are both from Santa Clarita. Crichton even attended Saugus High.
By the time Fredericks came on the scene, she was already on Zach Schroeder91色情片 radar. She鈥檇 first met TMU91色情片 longtime cross country and track and field head coach and his wife, Amie, when Fredericks was in elementary school. They all attended Placerita Baptist (now Bible) Church.
When Fredericks signed with TMU in 2021, it was because she loved the coaches and the program91色情片 ethos: competing for an audience of one. In return, the Schroeders showed Fredericks how to worship Christ in every workout and race 鈥 even in how she ate and slept.
Fredericks was all in. As a freshman, she watched closely how team captain Arianna Boggess (Ghiorso) handled success and failure, and how Ghiorso led the team with 鈥済race and elegance.鈥
Fredericks also met often with Amie Schroeder, talking about running and sanctification over coffee. One topic they dug into was pain: namely, Fredericks didn鈥檛 want to hurt when she ran. Amie explained that discomfort was an inextricable part of elite distance running.
Embracing that truth has been a key to Fredericks鈥 historic run, of which these are a few highlights:
She91色情片 the only Lady Mustang to win two individual GSAC cross country titles.
In 2023, she led TMU women91色情片 cross country to second place at nationals, matching the best finish of any team (in any sport) in TMU history.
In 2024, at indoor track nationals, she won the 3,000 meters and, a few hours later, ran the anchor leg for the distance medley relay (DMR) team, which also placed first.
These events typically end the same way, with Fredericks using an interview to proclaim the gospel, thank her coaches, or praise her teammates.
Heading into the 2024 outdoor track and field national championships, it looked as though she鈥檇 have another opportunity to honor Christ from atop the podium. Before the event, her best time in the 10,000 meters was more than a minute better than any other competitor. In other words, she was a heavy favorite.
Then everything seemed to fall apart.
Fredericks, left, and Ellen Palmgren are a formidable duo for TMU women91色情片 cross country.
Two weeks before the NAIA championships in May, Fredericks fell during a run, landing awkwardly on her left arm. Her elbow smarted, but it wasn鈥檛 until later that stiffness set in and doctors told her she鈥檇 fractured a growth plate, necessitating a sling and possibly ending her season.
After a week and a half of restless inertia, she returned to the doctor with a question: Would she risk further injury by running? No, the doctor said, so Fredericks decided to try.
For roughly 15 laps in Marion, Indiana, on May 22, Fredericks was in familiar territory: near the front of the pack. In truth, the other runners didn鈥檛 know she was hurt, so they held back, fearing Fredericks would eventually find another gear and dash past them.
But Fredericks felt drained, her legs refusing to cooperate. Pain generally reserved for the back half of the grueling race arrived early. In the stands, Mike and Amy felt it too. 鈥淪he91色情片 never going to quit,鈥 Amy remembers saying.
Schroeder agreed, and as the race91色情片 pace increased, he mercifully waved Fredericks off the track. TMU91色情片 program is built on ironclad trust between athlete and coach; Fredericks intended to keep running until Schroeder stopped her. At his signal, she exited the track and burst into bittersweet tears 鈥 sad not to finish, but relieved to be done.
鈥淗annah has the character of a champion,鈥 Schroeder says. 鈥淪he91色情片 Christlike in all things.鈥
Afterward, Fredericks refused to sulk, spending the next two days vigorously cheering for her teammates. She felt that nationals had gone exactly according to plan 鈥 just not her plan, and that was perfectly okay.
Fredericks鈥 discipline extends beyond her athletic endeavors, making her not only an accomplished runner, but a first-class student.
An academic All-American in 2023, Fredericks is studying teacher education with the long-term goal of working with kindergarten or first-grade students. After graduation, she plans to enroll in TMU91色情片 one-year teacher credential program.
Before then, she has unfinished business.
Entering her final year of athletic eligibility, she91色情片 a contender to win individual national championships in cross country and track and field. But she rarely talks about herself; she91色情片 more interested in discussing the Mustang women91色情片 cross country team, a group capable of winning the first team national title in school history this November.
To do so, the Mustangs must remain relaxed and avoid heaping extra pressure on themselves. After last year, they won鈥檛 catch competitors off guard, and any number of things could go wrong.
But however the story plays out, Fredericks isn鈥檛 concerned. She trusts the Lord to write a perfect ending.
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