During Memorial Day Weekend, my sister, Maya, a high schooler, was a competitor at the PIAA Track & Field Championship held at Shippensburg University. She was the only girl from her school (Bensalem High School) to qualify for the event. I was lucky enough to have time off from work to attend her race and enjoy the experience with her.

Maya loves to run. She ran the indoor track season and the outdoor season. Her best race — and the one she qualified for — is the open 400-meter dash. It’s one lap around the track, but it’s a brutal race that requires runners to maintain a top speed for almost a full minute. You have to be more than just fast but also physically strong enough for your body to carry you all the way through.

My sister came in third in her individual race, but her time wasn’t fast enough to compete with the best. She’s only a sophomore and will hopefully qualify again next year. She may not have raced as well as she’s capable of, but Maya was offered the opportunity to go to a track camp this summer and work with professional coaches. I think by next year she’ll be even faster and will place higher than she did this year.

I’m so proud of how hard she worked this past season, and I’m positive her drive and motivation will get her the results she wants. I can’t wait to sit in the stands next year and cheer her on again.

— Nia Scott, intern