T-burg’s Wright sets SJF freshman record

Gracie Wright ended her time at Trumansburg by breaking the school’s 200m dash and 4×400 relay records last outdoor track season. She’s now only a few meets into her college track career but is already setting school records for St. John Fisher College.

On Jan. 8 at Cornell University, Wright placed second in the 400m dash with a time of 1:00.63, the best ever for a freshman in school history. Just one week later at Utica College, Wright beat her own mark with a time of 59.79.

“I had no idea until they posted a little article on the St. John Fisher website,” Wright said. “To be honest, I was more excited about one of our seniors right now — she broke the school record for the 400. I was so excited for her because it was her first meet. But I was proud of myself also. She definitely pushed me through the race, though. It was exciting.”

That senior is Division I transfer Samantha Shea, who has pushed Wright to new heights since the former joined the team earlier this year. Wright also finds extra motivation from her teammate and twin sister Emma Wright.

“I haven’t really always been focused on records,” Gracie said. “I’m just trying to get the best time I can. I know that I can definitely go faster. I’ve been trying to work on my endurance, but having [Shea] here is definitely pushing me. I also had my sister Emma Wright in the race, and anytime I’m racing with her, she’s always pushing me to be my best self.”

While she attends school in Rochester, Wright broke the record close to home in Ithaca with her family there to watch. It was convenient for her family to attend this time around, but they have been traveling to her races all season. Wright talked about having the full support of her family.

“I love it,” Gracie said. “My family has always been such a big support for me. I didn’t always want to do track. It was once in a while kind of stressful in high school, but being in college, I’ve grown to absolutely love it. I love racing and I love that my family continues to push me through.”

While Gracie was far and away one of the best runners in Section IV, she’s now among many other athletes who excelled in high school. She discussed that adjustment to being one of the pack, rather than the leader.

“I think it’s kind of refreshing because everybody there, for the most part, wants to be there and wants to contribute and get the best time,” Gracie said. “They want to become a faster runner, jump higher or jump farther. I think it just pushes everybody else to do their best at practice so that they can get where they want to be at every meet.”

Gracie has come very close to getting her first individual college victory and talked about what she’ll have to do to achieve that.

“Definitely just being more comfortable racing at the college level,” Gracie said. “I’m working on my endurance and my anaerobic threshold. I’m used to coming off of a soccer season and being an outside midfielder. I was just running back and forth for games on end. I think I definitely just have to get my endurance up and, hopefully, come through with a first-place win eventually in the season.”

Away from the track, Gracie believes being an athlete has helped her be a better student as she adjusts to life in college.

“I need the stability of doing a sport to get me to go to classes on time and always do my work to the best of my ability so that I can keep up those grades,” Gracie said. “Obviously, I’m a nursing major, and that’s definitely my top priority, but track keeps me on top of all of it. I think it’s easier to be an athlete while doing school.”

Like it was in Trumansburg, Gracie is running alongside her twin sister Emma. Together, they won the 4x400m relay last weekend at Utica College by over 20 seconds in a nine-team field.

“It’s amazing,” Gracie said. “Having her there by my side makes me so much more comfortable and confident in myself. I’m excited to get back to relays with her. It’s exciting.”

Gracie is the owner of the second-best 400m dash time in overall school history just four meets into her college career. Looking ahead based on a start like that, she hopes to one day compete at the NCAA National Championships.

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