Despite the challenges this year has brought for everyone surrounding the coronavirus, junior Lucy Lawton is not letting it break her stride. 

Lawton has a 51:55 record for the 300 meter hurdles on La Salle’s varsity track team and plays holding midfielder for the junior varsity soccer team, and strives to be a devoted athlete. 

“My mom has honestly inspired me a lot recently just because she’s working from home still, and she keeps me going and pushes me to run,” she said. 

Even though she is disappointed about the cancellation of her season as many other athletes are, she is still putting in the work to stay in shape for next year. “Junior year is a really big year because that’s when colleges are looking to recruit kids,” she said. “I was really hoping to maybe get a scholarship for hurdles.”

While Lawton’s junior track season was taken away from her due to the COVID-19 outbreak, she still empathizes with the seniors who won’t be continuing with sports beyond high school and did not get the chance to fully experience their last year. 

Reflecting on her athletic experiences at La Salle thus far, Lawton recalled how soccer brought her closer with teammates at La Salle. “My favorite part [of soccer] is bonding with my team,” she said. 

Alongside soccer, Lawton began running track in the sixth grade. While she was passionate about the sport, she didn’t decide to pursue running for the La Salle track team until her sophomore year. 

“I was really anxious, but once I joined, the hurdles coach saw that I was actually pretty good at hurdles,” she said. “He was just really proud of me, and I was honestly really proud of myself because [I] put in all that work during the season, those grueling practices.”

Lawton thinks that not a lot of people participate in track because it is not typically viewed as a team sport. “Everyone has their event and all those points are added together, [which] decides which school is the winner of the meet,” she said. “It’s a really cool sport because you get to focus on yourself and your individual goals but at the same time you’re contributing to a team.” 

Regarding La Salle’s decision to convert to digital learning, Lawton said that she has adapted smoothly. “There’s a lot of busywork, but it’s not super hard work and you can also collaborate with your classmates [on] worksheets together if you’re allowed to,” she said. 

To help with digital learning days, Lawton has found that waking up early sets her up for success. She completes her assignments early in the day and then tries to do something productive, such as a workout or cleaning her room. 

“I think what’s worked for me is getting up early because I feel like the longer I sleep, the more tired I am the rest of the day,” she said. 

Since the announcement of school closures, Lawton has not once seen her friends and recommends others do the same. “I think it’s important to stay home because when we do this, it will be over much faster,” she said. Although she knows that it is hard to go so long without seeing friends, she said that “staying home is what’s best for everyone right now.”