After placing 25th at last season’s NCAA Cross Country Championships, redshirt junior Rachel Koon has proven to be a critical part of the Wolfpack cross-country program.
However, things weren’t always this way for the one-time walk-on. Her beginnings in the sport were quite humble.
“In eighth grade, I had two good friends that ran cross-country,” Koon said. “They were going to run cross-country for the high school once we graduated. I decided that because they were my friends, that I also wanted to try cross-country.”
Throughout her high school career at TC Roberson High School in Asheville, Koon was decent, but never quite elite.
“I definitely did not have a decorated high school career,” Koon said. “I had no impressive times or impressive finishes in high school. Pretty much just your average high school runner. But, when I graduated high school, I realized that I wanted to be on a team when I started school at NC State, so I reached out to the coaches and was able to get a tryout.”
Since joining the team at NC State, Koon has rapidly progressed on both the course and the track. The redshirt junior has attained accolades such as earning a silver medal in the 10,000-meters at the ACC Outdoor Championships in 2017, being named to the 2017 second-team All-American team in the indoor 3,000-meters and being named an All-American in cross-country for 2016.
“We had her try out at our first meet, the Wolfpack Invitational,” head coach Laurie Henes said. “She met the mark that we put out so we added her to the roster after that. Since she’s been on the roster, it’s just been an amazing progression.”
Koon’s mental character was a major key in her dramatic improvement.
“She’s pretty even-keel and I think that makes a big difference at this level,” Henes said. “If she has a bad workout, she’s not happy about it but it doesn’t set her back. She just moves forward and she truly believes in the process.”
Additionally, rising to the challenge with dedication and hard work proved equally as important for Koon herself.
“When I first joined the team, I was really just honored to have been given the opportunity to run with NC State,” Koon said. “I felt like I had to put in a lot of extra work just to be a part of the team and keep up with the girls. I felt like everyone was at a way higher level than I was, but all the hard work paid off.”
With only one week before the 2017 cross-country season gets back in action Koon looks to continue progressing.
“Personally, I was 25th nationally last year; so of course I would love to improve on that,” Koon said. “If I’m able to do that, it’s only going to help the team more. I’d love to be top-15 or top-10 if I can.”
In addition, the seasoned runner looks to continue playing a leadership role on the team.
“As a team, we were fourth last year,” Koon said “It’s good, but I think we had more potential than that if everybody would have come together on that day. I think this year we’ve had a lot of girls step it up. Our sophomores particularly are looking really good and I think we’re running better right now than we were at this point last year. So, team-wise I think we can do better than fourth especially if everybody was to put it together on that day. I think we could have a good shot at nationals.”
Her supportive attitude and leadership qualities are further exemplified in practice where she has continued to step up, according to Henes.
“We really needed people to step up and assume that leadership role,” Henes said. “Rachel is one of the people who has done a great job of that. She’s an extremely positive workout partner. She’s very positive, keeps people together, and does a great job as a leader and not just by example but specifically in the training group from day to day.”
As Koon’s cross-country career continues to stride along, the future looks bright for the All-American who was once a walk-on.
