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Full Name: Hannah-Lee Fitter Date of Birth: May 5, 1993 Hobbies: tumbling, cheerleading, spending time with/ family, and of course running! Personal Bests: State cross country meet 20:46, track: 2 mile-13:20 and 1 mile 6:07 Brothers/Sisters: Sister; Holly Fitter |
scrunners: When did you first meet Stephanie Buffo?
fitter: Last year at county for track Coach (Steve) Conway came to me and told me that there was a girl named Stephanie Buffo that thought I was cute! I was really upset that I missed qualifying for state in track last year by three seconds. Stephanie was getting ready to run, but Mrs. Buffo made a point to come over and meet me and tell me I had done a good job. It made me feel good to know that she had even noticed me. The first time I actually got to talk to Stephanie was during cross country at Coaches Classic when I had the chance to introduce myself and I told her that I really looked up to her.
scrunners: When did you start to run?
fitter: Last year I did a fun run that we heard about at school, and I never really minded running in P.E., unlike my friends. I could always run the mile without stopping. But I didn\'t really run at all. When I went to the fun run, Coach Conway was there and he encouraged me to do track. I ran track and I wasn\'t bad, but I didn\'t have any experience. After track Coach Conway encouraged me just to try cross country. I thought about it and decided I would just try it. And as I started putting on distance and doing it fast, I began to love running. It became something I enjoyed doing!. While doing my first year at track I could barely finish two miles without stopping one or two times, and in cross country we were doing five, six or seven miles without stopping and it became pretty easy. So throughout cross country I became a serious runner and loved to run. But it all started with the fun run!
scrunners: When you first met Stephanie, what did you talk to her about?
fitter: I introduced myself and told her how I looked up to her, and she asked me my time and congratulated me and was very kind. She also told me how she knew Coach Conway and his daughter Elizabeth Conway. And she told me her time. And I just felt fortunate to talk to her!
scrunners: What was your impression of Stephanie when you first met her?
fitter: Well at county (for track) I first met her mom and just from her I got a GREAT impression because her mom was so kind to me and encouraged me so much and I didn\'t even know her. She was also very humble, she could have acted like her daughter was the best and no. 1 (which she is) and I felt SO fortunate to be talking to her. I had missed making state in the mile and was extremely upset and crying and that is when she came over and encouraged me not to give up and stick with running. And when I met Stephanie she was the same way! She was SO kind to me! She asked me my time and congratulated me and encouraged me to keep at it, and she was SO HUMBLE! She didn\'t treat me like a little seventh grader that didn\'t have time for. She was so kind to me, a little girl she didn\'t know who looked up to her! So I got a GREAT, KIND and HUMBLE impression of her!
scrunners: What kind of guidance has she given you in the sport and life?
fitter: When I run sometimes I just feel like giving up and that I am just going to die out and fall to pieces! But then I think of her and all that she has accomplished and she makes me want to go above and beyond. And she has also given me a humble spirit. I look up to her not only in just running, but in all over attitude. When my mom and I talk and I get a sour or rude attitude about someone or something I don\'t like we say to have a Stephanie Buffo attitude!
scrunners: When did you start to put pictures of Stephanie on the inside of your locker door?
fitter: Well, like I said I really became a runner over the summer for cross country and so I went to www.scrunners.com and got the photos and laminated them and got them all ready before school started, and once I did that was the first thing I put in, even before all my books!
scrunners: How long did it take to complete your locker with running decorations?
fitter: It really didn\'t take that long, like I said I got most of them together over summer and before school, but if I find any new ones I print them out and laminate them and stick them in there for me to see everyday! And people who see them at school ask who it is and I am always HAPPY to tell them, that is Stephanie Buffo Dorman\'s no. 1 runner. She is who I look up to in running and other things!
scrunners: What or whom gave you the idea to do this?
fitter: I had wanted to decorate my locker this year really cool looking, and since I loved running so much and Stephanie, I thought it would be a good idea to put them in there. My mom really helped me by laminating them and putting the magnets on. She even found some of them for me!
scrunners: Explain what other running items you have in your locker?
fitter: I have a picture of our cross country team at county last year and a picture of me, Justin Cooley, and Chris Guest at county of track last year. ALL my pictures are somehow related to running. I also have a white board in there that I sometimes write my homework down on, but usually how much I need to run, or if we have a meet that week.
scrunners: When you see Stephanie at meets in the present, what kind of conversations do you have with her?
fitter: Well, we talk about times and she always congratulates me and encourages me, even when I feel like I have done REALLY bad. Unfortunately, usually when I see her we don\'t have much time to have a very long conversation, but my mom usually has a camera! Last year at a cross country meet at Dorman, I had hit my head pretty hard before the race began and I had ice on my head afterwards. She came over to me and asked if we could take a picture together. That really made me feel special. We took a picture and she made sure I was ok. The last time I had the chance to talk to her I had told her I was going to be moving.
scrunners: Do you run better or are you excited when Stephanie watches you run?
fitter: Oh YES! You can ask my mom sometimes even when she isn\'t there and I think of her I do better! But, yes every time she has been there I think I have done better than before or just gave it my all. At the Dorman meet during cross country (the one that I had hit my head at) I really didn\'t feel good, but I knew she was there, and so when I got done I saw her and heard her cheering for me and I think I had the best sprint at the end of a hard race that I had ever had!
scrunners: Can you pinpoint Stephanie\'s voice in the crowd while you are running on the track?
fitter: Yes, there are four voices I can hear my Mom and Dad, Coach Conway, and Stephanie\'s. And when I hear my mom and dad\'s sometime it irritates me, because they are my parents, but when it is hers I seem to kick it up a little bit and laugh a little and it just makes me feel good that she is cheering for ME!
scrunners: What has been your biggest challenge in running? How did you get through this challenge? Explain.
fitter: I have a lot of challenges in running but one of them was running seven miles straight for the first time. It was definitely a challenge, but I got through it. I sang in my head, I prayed, I just kinda thought, and I also did think of Stephanie and how that seven miles was probably nothing to her! But also at that cross country meet at Dorman after hitting my head really hard on the bleachers, I was crying and my mom thought I was going to quit and give up, but I kept at it thinking that I needed to learn how to suck it up and be tough! (And I couldn\'t quit at a race Stephanie was at!)
scrunners: What is Spartanburg Christian Academy looking to achieve this season?
fitter: In track we want to get as many people as we can qualified for state. I have already qualified in the mile and two-mile, So I am looking forward to that. We are also looking to improve together as a team.
scrunners: What are you looking to achieve the rest of the track season?
fitter: I want to get a mile under six minutes. So far my best mile time on a track is 6:07 so I am getting close. And I even want to get my two-mile under 13, so far my best time this year (and it was my first time doing the two mile for track ever) is 13:20.
scrunners: What would you like to achieve in the future with running and life?
fitter: I would like to run in the Disney World Marathon maybe, but that is just something to think about for in the future. If not that one, I would just like to run in a marathon.
scrunners: Do you feel in the future you can guide runners as Stephanie has guided you? Explain.
fitter: Yes, hopefully I will become as good as her one day, and I hope to show that yes it is good to actually be good, but it is better to be good AND have the right attitude to go with it!
scrunners: With your family moving this summer, what will you remember most from Stephanie and her impact on you?
fitter: Like I have said, her attitude and her humbleness. But also definitely her drive! That even when it is really cold or I don\'t feel like running I will be like her and have the drive to get out there and do it anyway!
scrunners: Where are you moving? Do you plan to keep on running?
fitter: I am moving to Minneapolis, Minnesota. Yes, I plan to keep on running even in the freezing cold!