Alea Hardie named 2021-22 Gatorade South Dakota Girls Cross Country Player of the Year
SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (BVM) 鈥� In late January, O鈥橤orman High School senior Alea Hardie was named the 2021-22 Gatorade South Dakota Girls Cross Country Player of the Year. It was an award Hardie had been waiting for since she first won a cross country state title as a sophomore.
鈥淚t鈥檚 definitely a huge honor,鈥� Hardie said. 鈥淚’ve been a nominee for it for the past three years so to finally get it my senior year is really exciting.鈥�
As a senior, Hardie won her third straight cross country state title, beating the next best runner by more than 10 seconds. Her success and leadership also helped the Knights win their second straight team state title as well.
鈥淲e have a young team but they鈥檙e all just so supportive and fun to be around,鈥� Hardie said. 鈥淒efinitely a lot of talent.鈥�
As a team captain, Hardie took her role seriously, trying her best to lead the young group of O鈥橤orman runners.
鈥淭hat was a big goal for me, to step into that leadership spot and just try to be a good example,鈥� Hardie said.
The results speak for themselves and the example she set was on full display leading up to the state meet. The week prior to state, Hardie had suffered a concussion in the metro meet which meant there was no guarantee she would be able to compete.
鈥淚t was definitely an experience I grew from,鈥� Hardie said.
Hardie ended up being cleared to run and the results speak for themselves. However, Hardie has always had the mentality to push through the pain and the adversity to finish the race. It鈥檚 actually what she loves most about running.
鈥淚 crave that feeling after the run, you just feel so satisfied with yourself,鈥� Hardie said. 鈥淎fter feeling the pain and achieving a goal.鈥�
That satisfaction was certainly there after state, although Hardie feels that everytime she trains. It鈥檚 a big reason she has been able to get to where she is at in the sport of running, that and her general love for the sports.
鈥淚t’s never really too hard to run just because I enjoy it so much,鈥� Hardie said. 鈥淚 love being outside and getting some fresh air.鈥�
However, her love for the sport has only come recently. Up until seventh grade, Hardie played a bunch of different sports, then her neighbors, who ran, invited her to join them at a track meet.
鈥淭hey invited me to a summer track meet and I did a one mile race and found out I had a little bit of talent and just fell in love with it from there,鈥� Hardie said.
Hardie continued to run and then in high school, her career trajectory took off. As a sophomore, she won her first cross country state title. She then won multiple events in the track season and Hardie began to realize what her potential could be in the sport.
鈥淎fter that first state championship, I really fell in love with it and wanted to see how far I could go,鈥� Hardie said. 鈥淚 just have been pushing myself more each year.鈥�
She started thinking about possibly running in college. Like many other high school athletes, she would dream about and train to achieve that goal but it still felt very far away. That all changed when she received her first offer. It was a surreal moment and that dream that felt like a long way away quickly became a reality.
With that reality came the recruiting process and Hardie’s first instinct: to look at colleges in South Dakota. Both South Dakota State and University of South Dakota were viable options for the long distance runner.
鈥淚 always thought I鈥檇 stay in state and was looking really deep into the South Dakota schools,鈥� Hardie said. 鈥淪DSU, USD and then I got a phone call and the Nebraska coach was coming after me more. I went down to visit there and I really just fell in love with it. And as I did get faster and my times got better, I started realizing I could be part of a Big Ten team.鈥�
The future Cornhusker made it official on Nov. 10, 2021 and although she is thrilled to get to Lincoln, she still has some things she is excited to do in the final half of her senior year.
鈥淚鈥檓 super excited; we鈥檙e going to go after one more state title,鈥� Hardie said about the track team and its upcoming season.
Last year the Knights were co-state champions with Brandon Valley, but this year they don鈥檛 plan on sharing the top spot on the podium.
