Tears of gratitude: Weaver thankful for time in legendary Lady Lex Cross Country program
LEXINGTON — The tears started flowing even before she crossed the finish line.
And she may have even shed one or two before even stepping foot on the starting line. Tears of joy, tears of sadness, tears of appreciation, and most of all, tears of reflection.
For as long as she could remember, Lexington Lady Lex Cross Country has been more like family than a team for Lex senior Elyana Weaver. And for good reason. Weaver grew up in the program, watched as her older sister helped Lady Lex achieve legendary status with three state championships and a state runner-up trophy from 2015-2018 and then found herself going from lanky, inexperienced freshman to a two-time All-Ohio runner with a state championship medal to her credit and a lifetime of life lessons learned in such a short period of time.
It leaves her extremely thankful.
“It was really special,” Weaver said after finishing her final race as a member of Lady Lex CC. “No matter what place I get or time I run, I wouldn’t trade anything I have experienced over the last four years for anything in the world. I am going to miss it, but I will take everything I have ever learned from what Coach (Denise) Benson taught me and I will take it with me through life and let it shape me into who I am and what I will become. I can’t thank this entire program and team enough.”
As a freshman, Weaver burst onto the scenes helping Lexington win its fourth consecutive state championship when she finished 42nd with a 19:46.9 at the 2020 state meet. She was the No. 3 runner on the team behind legendary runners like Lily Weeks and Hale Hamilton, two leaders who helped shape Weaver's career over the next three seasons.
As a sophomore, Weaver hit the peak of her individual career. While Lady Lex CC went through a bit of a rebuild trying to replace three scoring runners from the 2020 state championship team, Weaver excelled. She led Lady Lex to and eighth-place finish as a team but earned All-Ohio honors for the first time taking 26th at state with a 19:08.1.
Weaver was in cruise control and looked poised to have an easy road over the next two years to possibly leading Lexington back to state championship glory and maybe even becoming a three-time All-Ohioan in the process.
But what lessons could be learned from that? The easy road so many take doesn't build the character necessary to make it through this thing called life. The character Weaver built during her junior year. After a strong start to the season, Weaver got hit with a bout of sickness right before the postseason and never really fully recovered. Still, she ran a 20:40.5 at the 2022 state cross country meet to take 87th overall and lead Lexington to a third-place finish.
Not exactly where she wanted herself nor her team to be. The expectations inside the program are always to win a state championship and to give it everything you have to post a personal record at the end of the season. And Weaver didn't live up to those nor her own expectations. And she took it personally.
She went right back to work getting healthy and doing everything she could to make sure her senior year was a memorable one. And boy was it. At the 2023 state meet, Weaver ran a 19:14.31, her second-best time ever at state, to take 23rd overall and earn her second All-Ohio honor while leading Lex to a third-place finish as a team for the second consecutive year.
It was an amazing end to an amazing career, but Weaver didn't feel like celebrating. She felt like crying. Lex didn't win a state championship as it had hoped to. With just one senior on the team (Weaver), Lex wanted to send her out with a memorable experience. One she never got to feel despite winning a state title as a freshman. So, as Weaver cried, so did the rest of her teammates as they took turns hugging their senior leader.
“The tears come from four years of trials and tribulations,” Benson said. “Her freshman year, she was the third girl on our four-peat state championship team and that was unbelievable and such a huge accomplishment, but we couldn’t get on the podium because we were in the middle of COVID. So, that girl, despite winning a state championship, has no idea what it is like to stand on the podium. Sophomore year, she earned All-Ohio on a team we kind of knew wasn’t going to podium, got sick last year and didn’t return to form so we wanted this one for her to give her a memorable bookend.”
Maybe it wasn't the bookend Lady Lex wanted for Weaver nor the one Weaver wanted for herself. Or maybe it was in the silver linings of it all. No, Weaver didn't get on the podium, and had she, maybe she wouldn't have witnessed her teammates expressing their gratitude toward her during those moments of sadness. She would never have known just how much each one of them looked up to her as inspiration and direction.
One of those teammates was sophomore Brailey Slone, who became a two-time All-Ohioan during the 2023 state meet and who also knows she would have never achieved anything close to what she already has in her young career without Weaver.
“Last year, she had a rough season, but she bounced back and had a great season and it was amazing to watch,” Slone said. “She has always pushed me to be a better athlete and has always been on me to be more positive as a person. To have that is great and to see her go is incredibly sad.”
It was sad, in the moment. But when reflection time comes, there will be plenty of happiness and smiles.
“I tell them that the reason why it hurts so much is because it is so special,” Benson said. “When we won our 10th straight regional title, the reaction was, ‘So, we have done that 10 times in a row,’ but what they don’t understand is every time we do it, it gets so much harder to get back on the podium. This was our third year off of the podium and the second time in a row missing it by one spot. It hurts because once you get on there, it is magic. And Elyana has been a major reason for that magic and she is hurting because she gives so much to this team and this sport.”
And the sport gave so much to her. Not just because of everything she accomplished with two All-Ohio honors, a state championship, four regional and four district team championships, but because of the lifelong friendships she made along the way. She learned that in order to be someone others can lean on, she first must lean on others. And that is what Lady Lex CC is all about.
“These girls mean so much to me,” Weaver said. “Reading all of my notes from them as we headed to state was so special and made me feel very special. That is what this team and this program are all about and my goal was to be comfortable with leaving this team behind knowing that this program is going to do its thing even when I am not here. It has been amazing to see them bring out the best in me and me bring out the best in them.”
And that is why the tears flowed. Sure, a few tears of sadness, but mostly, tears of thankfulness. Tears of gratitude. Tears of appreciation.
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This article originally appeared on Mansfield News Journal: Elyana Weaver thankful for time as Lady Lex Cross Country member
