Milesplit Arizona Cross Country Journals
Our fourth runner is Sherod Hardt from Queen Creek. Sherod follows in the foot steps of two older sisters, both with multiple state championships and both went on to run at Arizona State.
During the 2008 cross country season Sherod placed 7th at the Nike Cross SW Regionals and qualified for Nationals but opted out to make a run at Foot Locker West placing 14th and just missing out on the top 10. He is already having a great season winning the Scottsdale Running Company Invitational (in the rain) and traveling to California to win the Mustang Invitational.
Sherod Hardt
(Sr., Queen Creek)
Journal Entry #3 (November 19, 2009)
Hey Guys it’s me Sherod, and I am writing to you from Utah this week as I am on a recruiting trip to BYU !!
So the HS Cross season for AZ has officially ended as we had state this past weekend. Boy how the year has flown by. I would first like to start off thanking Margot Kelly for all her work and efforts over the years. She is an amazing person, she gives us athletes so much acknowledgement and press, (more than anyone in the state!) and I just wanted to say “THANK YOU MARGOT!” Oh and by the way if any of you ever have the chance to hang out with her, she has some amazing dance moves!
Onto my summary of Regionals and State: So, I ran in the 4A I Desert Sky regionals on Oct. 30 at Freestone park. It was a nice day and a fun and challenging course for a regional meet.. I ended up winning the race, pretty much using the race as a training session in preparation for the State Championships. Our team took 4th so my teammates also were able to join me at State which is always nice. I love those guys! They work hard and have defiantly improved! The average improvement on our team from last year was 1 ½ minutes faster for runners 2-7! WOW
The State meet took place this past weekend. Lucky for me 4AI got the draw of the first race of the day! That is always nice as many of you know that AZ is still blazing hot in the afternoons. I was really hoping to win my first state championship, and I did! What a great feeling that is to be a State Champion. I had some pressure on me due to the fact that my sisters both won multiple State Championships and I had to keep up the tradition. Anyway, my plan was to run smart, as the course is tougher than it appears and to run fast! I ended up running a 15:32, which is faster than I ran last year, but not quite as fast as I was hoping for. Needless to say I was a little disappointed in my time, but the idea of being the State Champion made me feel a bit better. Did I run smart? I think I did the first part of the race, but the last ½ mile or so I mentally let it get away from me a bit! It was still an accomplishment and something I can be proud of!
I will be running Nike Southwest on November 21st and am hoping for a top 5 finish and a possible trip to Portland or to Footlocker West! I guess that decision will have to be made when the time arrives! I would just like to congratulate all the Cross Country runners in AZ on a great season. Your hard work and dedication has put Arizona on the map as a state that has some kids that can run! Great job, keep it up and remember…. The sky is the limit! Reach for your goals, work hard to achieve them and anything is possible!
~Sherod
Entry #1 Introduction (Septeber 25, 2009)
Hello fellow cross country and track friends, my name is Sherod Hardt and I have been asked by the ever so lovely Margot Kelly to write journals this season about my cross country season. I really don’t know how to begin, so I will start with a little introduction. As I have stated my name is Sherod Hardt, I am 18 years old and I run CC for Queen Creek High School. I have been running CC and track since middle school.
Running wasn’t really an option, it was kinda a family thing that I fell into. I have 2 older sisters Whitney and Kari who both are runners so I just fell in with them. They both went to ASU to run following HS and I too plan to run collegially following HS as well ( however, I have no idea where) . My sisters have always been my inspiration. They have been examples to me as far as training goes, as far as school goes and as far a being just good overall people! Both of my parents are my coaches and have coached me every day since I started running. People ask me if that drives me crazy…. I guess I would so NO, I really enjoy it. I love every opportunity I have to spend time with my family and as you can read, that is A LOT of the time !
As I approach my final HS Cross Country season, I feel an overwhelming amount of excitement. The boys in our state have really raised the bar these past few years and I am looking forward to some real exciting and fun times. I feel like I got started with my summer training rather late as I ran NON this summer. (Not that I ran too well that is for sure!) hahahah… Anyway after NON I took 21 days off from running. I needed the break both physically (I was having some thyroid issues) and mentally ( my season, did not end as I had hoped for)…. So I slowly started training back for CC in the early part of July and feel like my training is going amazing right now.
I have run in two races so far. The Scottsdale Distance Classic, which was a blast!! It rained and it was the first time ever in my HS career that I have been blessed with running a race in the rain! It was amazing! Tyler Bingham stuck his nose right in there with me and we had a great race. It was fun and I felt like winning and running a time of 14:55 for 3 miles without going all out was a great way to open my season. This past weekend our team went to CA to run in the Mustang Invite in Chula Vista, CA. This was a new experience for us, but also a lot of fun (hanging out at the beach was probably the best part!) . I won the 5K with a time of 15:40, and met a new friend named Jacob Roach (Ottay HS)… He was an animal, seriously, 6’4 and a MAN! The race was good, and again I felt like I had a bit left in my tank… Hopefully that is a good sign as I get ready to race the best of the best here in AZ on Oct. 2nd at the Twilight Distance Festival! It is going to be an all out war with Shrader, Magnason, Munoz, and so many more great runners..... I can't even name them all!
Anyway, thanks for taking the time to read my journal, good luck to all of you this coming season… One final thought….. Be yourself, do your best, and do what it takes to WIN!
Sherod