Bethany Michalak, a ninth-grader at Air Academy in Colorado who won the Class 4A state title in addition to being a member of the Kokopelli Racing Team lineup that captured the girls 15-18 team title Dec. 5 at the AAU National Championships at Apalachee Regional Park in Tallahassee, Fla., joins DyeStat editor Erik Boal to recap her debut high school cross country season as the elite freshman athlete in the nation. Michalak reflects on her first opportunity to race outside of Colorado during the fall and being able to compete closer to sea level, resulting in a 5-kilometer personal-best 17:14.84, the fastest time recorded by any freshman at Apalachee Regional Park. Michalak also examines how she and teammate Riley Stewart, a two-time Class 5A state champion for Cherry Creek, would have liked to compete against the athletes in the individual wave in their efforts to pursue sub-17 performances, but shares that they were proud to take the top two spots in their wave and place third and fourth overall. Michalak explains how significant racing at a national championship event was for her, especially considering that she didn't have an opportunity to qualify for Nike Cross Nationals or Foot Locker Nationals as a freshman. She analyzes how competitive the Nike Southwest Regional and Foot Locker Midwest Regional meets would have been had they taken place, and looks forward to those future opportunities to potentially contend for an individual championship at one of the two national meets. Michalak also revisits how beneficial it was to race Nov. 6 at the Kokopelli Invitational, since the Borders Wars XC Invitational final in St. George, Utah, scheduled for Nov. 7 was canceled, and how that helped continue her momentum after winning the state title Oct. 17 at Norris Penrose Events Center. She also talks about her aspirations during track season, having already run a pair of fast mile races in the spring before her cross country season began, and reacts to the decision by the CHSAA to delay the start of the outdoor season due to the Coronavirus pandemic.