At DistancePreps.com our motto is "The Future Runs Now" and to help celebrate the 2013 XC season, we have decided to start highlighting our future stars in a segment called "Frosh of the Week".

Ally Hajda - Katie Caples Invitational (19:37)

Ally Hajda is Girls "Frosh of the Week".

Ally is currently the fastest girl harrier in the Class of 2017 for the State of Florida and has put together 2 outstanding back to back races to start her freshman year for the Bulldogs, going 19:25 at the UNF 110% meet, and 19:37 at Katie Caples this past weekend. 

Ally is no stranger to big meets and running fast.  As an 8th grader for Bolles, she ran 19:17, finishing 12th at the State Cross Country Finals helping her Bolles team capture the 2A State Championship.

As an instrumental member of Bolles success, Ally believes "the girls are definitely a great team, I love them all, they are like family to me". She especially likes, "pack running and during workouts always having someone to run with".

When asked what she would like her legacy to be while at Bolles, she "hopes to keep running after high school at college somewhere, and definitely wants to make a big impact on the high school team at Bolles".  One of her main goals by the time she is a senior is to be able "to help all the younger kids get better, just like they have with me".

- Coach Ryan - Bolles High School
Ally Hajda is a wonderful young lady and a pleasure to coach. She epitomizes everything we strive to have in a Bolles cross country runner; she is a hard worker, an excellent student, and a great teammate . . . she has the respect and admiration of the coaches and the rest of the girls on the team for her dedication to her running. I recall Ally coming out for track early in her middle school career and her main event was the 200m! . . . who would have thought that less than two years later she would be one of the best distance runners in Jacksonville!  Ally has improved in leaps and bounds over the past year or two, going from a PR of 21:30 in 7^th grade, to 19:17 last year in 8^th grade for a 12^th place finish at State.  The Bolles coaching staff are very much aware of her potential and we are making a conscious effort to make sure that she stays healthy and continues to enjoy her running not just this year, but in years to come; we try to make sure she takes a day off from time to time and we have her do more steady aerobic running and not too much fast stuff; she is great about keeping up with her core work and her flexibility exercises.  All-in-all, we are blessed to have someone like Ally on the Bolles cross country team; she was certainly a big part of our success last year and we look forward to her being a big part of it in the future.

Josh Kennedy - Ft Myers Optimist Invitational (18:30)

Josh Kennedy is Boys "Frosh of the Week". 

Josh did not run the fastest time in the state this past week. Heck, he didn't even run Varsity. What Josh did this weekend was bigger than that, much bigger.

On Tuesday, September 3rd Josh's 50 year old Dad, Richard died very unexpectedly. That Friday Josh attended his funeral surrounded by friends and family. On Saturday morning at 6:30am Josh, accompanied by his Mother, Brother and some family, was at the Lehigh Acres, Veteran's Park course preparing with his teammates for a day of racing at his High School's home meet. He helped with the course preparations, and then he cheered on his teammates in the Varsity races. When it was time for him to race, he toed the line and ran a mature, patient first half letting the early leaders come back to him. He then let it all hang out down the stretch distancing himself from the pack. He won. Not only did he win, he came in first by 37 seconds over the next runner, had he run with his Varsity team he would have been the number 5 runner and scored. His team mobbed him at the finish line. There were several teary eyes looking on at what a gutsy performance Josh had put on. But to Josh he was just doing what he has trained to do and what his Father would have wanted him to do. Win, win.

Coach Yancey Palmer - Ft. Myers High School

"Josh is a huge bonus for the Fort Myers High School Green Wave CC team. He started running with us in early June and showed signs of having potential. He was a late joiner to our running camp, we had to make sure we had spots available before he could be invited; it’s based on seniority. But watching him bond with his new teammates and work hard in the mountains of GA was exciting. As Josh has grown closer to the guys he is beginning to open up more and more, we are learning that he is not just a hard working fast runner, but he is really cool outstanding young man. We are lucky to have him. In his first high school race, he followed our team strategy to perfection, starting slow and working into the meet, as it begins to get tough. Then in his second race, he really smashed it. He looked great. Josh has had to deal with a very intense personal situation and I could not be more proud of him, his family and his teammates. That situation dwarfs his athletic accomplishments. As he gets more race experience he will compete for a varsity spot, and perhaps race with the faster guys. It’s gong be so much fun to watch him grow as a young man and an athlete. I hope he stays healthy and continues to improve throughout this season, nobody really knows his potential."

There are many factors that come into play when determining the "Frosh of the Week", including; time, place, rank against other freshmen, and overall impact they have on their team. We will not highlight the same Frosh more than once and the honors are purely subjective. If you wish to nominate your athlete for "Frosh of the Week" e-mail us at [email protected] with their name and why they are deserving of the honor.