Kale Cassidy '20 Recruiting Profile

Ever since I started running at the beginning of my Freshman year, I knew it was the sport for me.  Before then, not many other sports had clicked with me and I dropped out of each after a few years because of my lack of interest.  My eighth-grade year, I didn’t even play sports, but things changed greatly when I decided to join the cross country team. From the beginning, running seriously challenged me, but the more I pushed, the more I got into the sport.

After my freshman year of Cross County, I had lettered and placed in about the middle of the pack in my Varsity team. I tried putting myself out there for track the following year, however, I continually kept hitting a barrier and didn’t reach where I wanted to. After that first track season, I knew I needed to push myself over the summer so that I could make my mark in the next cross country season.  Over the summer I attended Steens Mountain Running Camp, and there, I broke the barriers that were holding me back. The following season, I had seriously improved from where I was last year and started off as the fastest runner on my team.  Throughout the season I placed well in my races, but I hadn’t realized how well I was doing until the State Cross Country Meet. There I placed 9th, and from there I’ve kept pushing myself to do better, along the way taking 7th in the 3000m at State Track, and 7th at the State Cross Country Meet. I also participated in Border Clash, which was a competition between some of the fastest runners in both Oregon and Washington. After continuing my running training through the winter and through Track Season, I placed 4th in the 1500m and was State Champion in the 3000m. During my Senior Cross season, I then took 2nd at the State Meet. I plan to continue my progress through the rest of high school and into college.

Running has shown me how much potential I truly have, has taught me to work harder when striving to achieve my goals, and has shown me the importance of helping out others.  Through running cross country, track, and my academic skills, I am aiming to head to college to compete athletically and work towards finishing college education. Running has become a major part of my life, and I hope to use it to help me to pursue a bright future wherever I end up going.