Maclay grad inducted into school Hall of Fame for her distance running | David Yon

There is a reason I have learned to love high school and middle school cross country. It is, of course, the athletes that compete. And the opportunities the sport offers for their growth and development.

Tallahassee and the surrounding areas have some strong programs that offer the opportunities to compete for titles and just to run for 3000 to 5000 meters.

On Saturday, Oct. 22, Kara Newell Mathias (daughter of close friends Jane and Brent Johnson) was inducted into the Maclay School Hall of Fame for her accomplishments as a distance runner for the school’s cross country and track & field teams.

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Watching Kara and her teammates climb mountains with the help of their coach, Gary Droze, to become state champions was inspiring. The journey, which began in 1996, was captivating and I was hooked. And while Gary coached many talented athletes, boys and girls, none touched my heart more than Kara.

I am not sure I knew what cross country was when I was working my way through my “junior” high and high school worlds. I have to believe at  least one of the four high schools I attended had a cross country team, but I was distracted by other sports and do not recall anything. Running was little more than a punishment for messing up. Thank goodness I learned better.

My first memories of high school and middle school cross country or track and field were long after I had missed the chance to compete in either sport. Fortunately, I learned what a wonderful sport running can be through other ways.

But there was a gap between what I did and what I saw as school competition. Kara and her family helped me close that gap.

What I remember most about middle school and high school athletes was how hard most of the athletes worked and competed. But I also watched how much fun they made the sport. It did not take long after I began watching Kara and her teammates to get hooked.

In addition to being a talented and successful athlete Kara was a team leader and a great ambassador for the sport, serving as team captain for Maclay and later for Florida State.

Watching Kara and her teammates run together and grow together reinforced the value of having quality youth running programs. We like to think that we can teach the kids that we run with, but it often works the opposite way, we learn as much from them as we can teach them.

Kara Mathias certainly deserves to be in the Hall of Fame. She was a key part of eight state championship teams (4 track and 4 cross country). She was an individual state champion in track in the 1600 meters (metric mile) and the 3200 meters (metric two miles), state champion six times and individual championship  as well as serving as team captain for many years.

She was honored with six All Big Bend First Team honors for cross country. She was the Florida Dairy Farmer Track & Field Athlete of the Year Award in 2001 and Student of the Year in her senior year. The later award was a peer nominated award.

But that is only a part of why she deserves a recognition and induction.

What I learned watching Kara was how hard we have to fight sometimes just to get to the starting line.

She was willing to battle when things were tough and not going so well. She fought her demons and overcame the obstacles they created. She provided a great example and a lesson to teach us all. Kara was a ferocious competitor, but she always understood that winning and losing are not always a matter of how fast one runs or what place a runner finishes.

Thanks, Kara, for teaching me so much about what is important in high school cross country and track.

David Yon is addicted to running. In his spare time, he is an attorney with the Radey Law Firm.

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This article originally appeared on Tallahassee Democrat: Maclay grad Kara Newell Mathias inducted in school's Hall of Fame