By William Geci
Leah Zainc, girls cross country captain, leads by example and discipline as a senior captain after four years of running her best on the team.
Both of those traits were shown through this season when the team did not feel like running; she ran more to show they can do it. With Leah’s best being the best runner on the team she is proud of her progress and all the work she has put in to accomplish and make it to where she is now.
She believes that the team is very strong, even though there are areas where the team needs to improve. After the first meet Zainc is proud of the girls for finishing first and believed they were going to have a fantastic season.
The girls team has a plan for a successful season by running together as a group, keeping everyone responsible for their individual tasks while working together, and maintaining positive vibes to keep everyone motivated to continue running and improving.
Zainc’s most memorable experience is the activities they would do outside of practice. As a team, they would have pasta nights between the girls.
If Zainc had the ability to change something in her journey in this sport, she would have trained earlier than she had before because she believes that if she had started sooner, her cross-country PRs and best times could have been better.
No matter what she follows one leadership style: positivity. “positive, motivated kind of leadership style, I try to stay positive and just stay happy, just so that kind of reflects on everyone else,” said Zainc. She believes it reflects onto her team, which allows them to improve more and more, rather than hitting a stopping point because of anything negative.
One of her biggest concerns is ensuring that no one feels left out of any activity the girls’ team is involved in. She makes sure everyone feels included in every aspect of the team
And that everyone’s morale is up and that the team stays as a tight knit group
throughout every run and activity.
“I made sure I stayed at the back of the pack; I kind of tried to keep everyone together, also any outside activities, especially if it’s three or more teammates. We try to just do everything together.”
She also believes as long as she stays positive, it will rub off on the rest of the team, like breaking down the race, seeing what they can improve on, showing that their mistakes aren’t something to dwell on but to learn from.
Zainc believes you can be a good leader and win as captain.
“Sometimes it’s not all about winning, it’s about showing that you could be a well-rounded runner, that you can be a leader while also getting those medals.”
