Name: Martina Novotny
High school: Spring Valley High School
Event PRs: 5K - 19:46
800 - 2:29
One mile- 5:32
Two mile- 12:19
Hobbies: drawing, reading, and traveling
What was your most memorable race/competition?
My most memorable track race is at racing at Disney and then getting a medal there, and their medals were so beautiful. My other memorable track race is my last track race when I ran the 4x800 and I got butterflies before the race (and I don't get butterflies that often). I ended up running below 2:30.
My most memorable cross country race was state qualifiers of my junior year in which it was raining, hailing, and we still had to race. Spring Valley managed to place second overall. It was the worst race but with the best outcome ever! My other most memorable races include running my first varsity race and running a race with a time of below 20 minutes.
Out of all your high school accomplishments, which stands out the most?
Graduating high school, Surviving AP Calculus, and managing to go from 0 AP to 4 AP classes.
If you could do it all over again, what would you change about your athletic career in high school?
Getting enough sleep before every meet and not stressing out over classes which would lead me to have a bad day of practice or even a bad race. Race like every race is your last, because you don't want to look back on it and regret that you could have raced better.
What were the most difficult obstacles you had to overcome?
Having to juggle senior year with running such as applications and scholarships. Getting enough sleep for races and an achilles tendon strain at the beginning of my senior cross country year, which healed quickly.
What will you miss the most?
Racing with my friends, I'm really sad that I won't be racing any more competitively for a school.
Do you have any advice for younger athletes?
Work hard every year, because by the time senior year comes and you are done with racing, you sometimes wish that you would have broken a personal record on a certain race. Don't be afraid to move up to varsity.
How have your coaches influenced your performances and your life goals?
My coaches believed in me, pushed me both mentally, physically and wrote influential notes before my meets which helped race well.
What kind of impact did you family have on your time as a high school student-athlete?
They definitely helped my running career during high school because they supported me and supported my schedule of practice during the summer, the holidays, and the school year. If they were not supportive of me, I wouldn't have raced as well.
What are your college or post high school plans?
I am attending the University of South Carolina-Columbia to obtain a major in either history or english and then get a teaching certification.
What do you hope to achieve after high school?
I hope to attend and graduate college, obtain a teaching certification and get a job in the teaching field.
Do you see yourself coaching in the future? Please explain and if so, what level and why?
Maybe, I definitely will be helping out my coach during races because I am going to be close to home. I don't think I will be a coach, but possible a volunteer. However, I might be a coach when I'm older because that would be really fun and cool to see the talent.
If there is one thing in the world you could do, what would it be and why?
Travel all over the world without having to worry about the cost. I would want to travel because there is so much that I haven't seen and I would like to see all of it before I die.