Sydney Lear began her high school athletic career on the Platinum Dance team. She was a member of the varsity team for two years, receiving state solos both years. Lear had always enjoyed running but had never run track or cross country until last spring. Shortly after joining the track team, Lear became one of the top 3,000 meter runners in the school. Later in the season, Lear qualified for state in the 3,000. Coach Jane Wheeler encouraged Lear to go out for cross country in the fall due to her success with distance running.
After making the decision to transition from dance to cross country, Lear dedicated every day of her summer to attending practices, running with the varsity team each time. With the help of her coach and teammates, Lear raced to the finish as the Spartan’s number one runner at both the Spartan Challenge and Cedar Rapids meets. She says, “I’m happy with the results but I still feel inexperienced. Each race is a new learning experience.”
Lear attributes her success to her teammates. “They push me to my fullest potential and make the hard workouts more fun.” She emphasizes that training for herself was a lot easier than training for a team. When you train for a team, your mistakes hurt everyone, not only yourself.
The PV Girls Cross Country team has not swept the MAC since 2014, but Lear will help them do it this year. Wheeler says, “Previous years have shown that PV winning the MAC is not just a given, and our girls want to win it this year.” She believes that this is the year PV will reclaim its throne.
Every runner experiences the sense of burning in their lungs and their legs, but Lear has another obstacle to overcome. Lear has type one diabetes, preventing her pancreas from producing the required amount of insulin. She must give careful consideration to her insulin or glucagon levels before, during, and after each run. Most runners wouldn’t even think twice about these things. Despite her diabetes, she has a positive attitude about it, saying, “I just have to push through it.”
Those who know Lear can attest to the fact that she is a talented runner as well as an amazing person. Wheeler states, “she doesn’t only bring her speed to the team, she also brings her positive attitude. She cares more about others improving than herself, and her genuinely nice personality adds so much more to the team.”
Since it is just the beginning of the season, Lear has a lot of time to improve. She does not have a specific goal-time she wants to hit, but rather, she wants to leave it all on the course. Due to it being her first and last season, she only has one year to make her mark on the team. With her optimism and perseverance, Lear will continue to excel and help her team recapture the MAC title once again.
