Emma Love has been named the LSC Runner of the Year. It has been a long journey for Love, who has been running for WT’s cross country team since her freshman year after she was convinced to attend WT by members of her family.
“I really got a good feel for it when I came up to WT,” Emma Love, senior Sports and Exercise Science Major, said. “I liked everyone I met, and I liked what the program was about.”
Emma’s confidence has grown since she was a freshman. She understands she can be nervous, but is still confident in her ability. She has also grown in leadership. She has been great encouraging her teammates but still challenges them and holds them accountable all at the same time.
Emma has been running cross-country at WT for the past four years. In her first year Love helped place WT in second place at both the indoor and outdoor LSC Championships.
On race day, cross country looks like a individual sport, with the tension hanging in the air and the competitive drive each person has to beat out a known rival, though bond between the team members is tighter than individual sports.
“We’re a family. We have movie night and we go to church together, which is really cool. All of that just helps build team unity, which helps a lot during races because if you’re unified as a team then you’re going to have each other’s back and you’re going to do the best that you can for your team,” Love said.
“I have seen Emma grow in her faith. She has always been strong in her faith, but to watch her strive daily to live it out and share Christ with others has been amazing,” Kimberly Dudley, head coach of the Women’s Cross Country, said. “Emma is an amazing person. She is selfless, motivated, hard working, and an absolute joy to be around. These attributes spill over into the athlete that she is. She is a strong leader and is the first to encourage her teammates. She always looks for the positive in everyone and everything she does.”
One thing that Love does without fear is helping people.
“She’s a caring person, always initiating genuine conversation and asking about how I’m doing and how my season is going. Just very kind and light hearted,” Raven Gerald, a graduate from WT and a recent Lady Buff basketball player, said.
“Emma is going to be missed. She has truly impacted our program, her teammates, as well as myself and this university in a positive way,” Dudley said.
