Mark Fitzharris '20 Recruiting Profile

    Hard work has paid off, I started off my Freshman year with a time of 23:15 and that was quite the legitimate time. After districts that year I decided I wanted more than just what I had achieved so I set my mind to it and trained vigorously throughout the summer. Running without support in Nike Free Runs I quickly began to see some nagging injuries that kept me complacent on the trails. By late August going into my Sophomore year, I suffered a stress fracture on my second metatarsal during training. I biked most days to school and on the days I had enough time to spare, the Y (YMCA) was my go to for some pool intervals. I ran only one race my entire Sophomore year, the race I ran was a bigger meet of which my coach ordered me to run slowly as I was coming off of the injury. The next morning I woke up and struggled to walk, as it turns out I had suffered yet another stress fracture, this time on my fourth metatarsal. With the season over I was in desperate need to rekindle my relationship with the sport that had changed my life. By the end of March of my sophomore year I transferred schools and worked incredibly hard to change a plethora of things, my form, my cadence, and most importantly: how I landed. With a new coach and great goals, I continue to work hard averaging about 50-75 miles a week going into my Senior year of Cross Country. If you chose me to join your team, you can count on me to put in miles with a good attitude, I've ran a 50k (at a rather slow pace) and never once did I question why I was doing so. Running isn't a chore for me, it's a part of my life. The greater the challenge, the harder I promise I will work.

    With ADHD I have struggled greatly in the field of academics, my grades throughout high school have continuously shown a downward spiral without any signs of exponential growth until the fourth quarter of my Junior year. I grew to become uncaring for my performances in school during my third quarter, however something dramatically changed that altered my life. I was counseled greatly by a few of my teachers, my parents,  and my older brother to gain some pride back into the work I do at school. With D's in several classes, I worked incredibly hard and spent much of my free time in tutoring, by the end of quarter four I had accumulated a semester grade of only one C, all the other grades were either A's, -A's, +B's, or B's. This is something that puts me in a different category than other kids coming out of high school; in the areas where I lack talent naturally, I make up through astounding work ethic and grit.