Spartanburg High seventh grade track and field athlete Mary Beth Gray fell following the start of the third section of the girl's 1600-meter event at the SCTCCCA Coaches Classic, at Spring Valley HS in Columbia. "I fell down and I got back up," Gray said. "Then I got really mad."
Gray mentioned that she would not be able to get back up, but with the help of fellow athletes, the first year runner finished 29th with a 5:55.
Senior Christ Church distance athlete Ashley Anderson (15th, Christ Church) and Cara Browning (11th), a sophomore at Stratford encouraged Gray to regain momentum, prior to the restart with encouraging words.
Browning mentioned about the words she said to Gray, "You get down when something happens and it just an instinct to help them shake it off."
Anderson, was able to relate with Gray, when during a cross-country race her sophomore year, Anderson fell and her sister, Annie, now a freshman at South Carolina encouraged her to get back up.
"They (Anderson and Browning) kept saying, you can do it," said Gray in a post race interview.
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| Ashley Anderson (left), Mary Beth Gray (center) and Cara Browning (right) participated in the Coaches Classic Saturday. |
Senior Christ Church distance athlete Ashley Anderson (15th, Christ Church) and Cara Browning (11th), a sophomore at Stratford encouraged Gray to regain momentum, prior to the restart with encouraging words.
Browning mentioned about the words she said to Gray, "You get down when something happens and it just an instinct to help them shake it off."
Anderson, was able to relate with Gray, when during a cross-country race her sophomore year, Anderson fell and her sister, Annie, now a freshman at South Carolina encouraged her to get back up.
"They (Anderson and Browning) kept saying, you can do it," said Gray in a post race interview.