Personal Statement
Hi coaches,
My name is Jake Haley I am a Senior in the class of 2023. I attend Portsmouth High School, in New Hampshire. My unweighted GPA is 4.12, my weighted GPA is 4.73, and I am ranked seventh in my class of 300. I have a copy of my transcript and the classes I am taking senior year as well.
Academics is my priority and I would love to attend a school where I am challenged as well as part of a running family. To be honest, I have not always been a runner. I started running cross country in eighth grade to try and stay in shape for basketball. My team consisted of three kids coached by the music teacher. When I came into high school, I still had that same mindset. I ran cross country my freshman year, then played varsity basketball, and was unable to run track due to the fact that it was canceled by covid. Sophomore year I decided I was going to try harder in cross country due to my poor performance in the varsity state meet freshman year and I am a competitive person that does not like to lose. I was able to run in the 17:00’s and it felt great. I still played varsity basketball in the winter and finally had my first track season in the spring. During our meets, we had to run with masks on and I knew little about the sport. I ran a 2:09 800m and 54.5 400m, barely making the state meet. After an ankle injury in the summer going into junior year, I could not train for cross country a lot and it mentally took a toll on me. However, I was able to rebound during the season and run a 17:14. Going into the winter season I made the decision during the first week of basketball I was going to quit for winter track. I had never run winter track before but I wanted to follow my dream of running track in college like my late father did.
During the indoor season, I was able to run 2:00.04 in the 800m and 2:36.01 in the 1000m. I ran the 600m and the mile once as well. My club team traveled to BU, the Armory, Virginia, and I even ran the 800m at New Balance Nationals. Going into the spring season I knew I needed to put in the work and I did. I was able to split a 49.76 in my 4x4 relay (3:18.60), capture a club team national title, and run a 1:57.64 in the open 800m.
After my summer running I was selected into a highly competitive nationally acclaimed leadership program to spend a month of my summer at an all-boys summer camp (Camp Belknap). There were no electronics allowed and it was a great escape from the outside world. I helped them get comfortable with themselves in a new environment and showed them how to have an independent mindset since I had been a camper there for nine years. At the end of the month, I received an award for the best leader in training for my leadership skills. I returned home and used those skills to give freshman orientation and lead my cross country team as a captain for the second year in a row.
Jake Haley
