Cross country is easily one of the most grueling sports for high school athletes.
Runners falling to the ground from exhaustion after crossing the finish line is a common sight throughout the season.
Shady Spring junior Abby Szuch is in her second season running for the Tigers, but a 5K cross country event pales in comparison to the race she has now completed.
On Sept. 21, the Tiger distance specialist was afforded the opportunity to “ring the bell” signifying her treatments were complete after a nearly three-year battle with Leukemia.
“It was crazy and didn’t feel real,” Szuch said about her last treatment day. “I went to the infusion center and it was weird. They weighed me and did all my vitals like they usually did, but I didn’t get poked. They didn’t put the needle in and check my blood work.”
“Then I rang the bell which was really emotional. They have a little excerpt there and it is really touching after you have been through it. It was like have a nice life, but it was a little sad because they were like my family. It was really special though. It felt like all of the work I put in had come to a head and it was completely worth it. Now you get to celebrate and enjoy life.”
Nothing really seemed out of the ordinary back in eighth grade until the Raleigh County track meet that year.
“I was at the county meet and finished the two-mile and thought I was going to die. Mom was really concerned because I was really white in the face and had no color,” Szuch said. “My side started hurting and my collarbone was hurting. I had micro blood vessels bursting. I was bruising all over. I woke up in the middle of the night hurting and I couldn’t breath.”
Blood work and an ultrasound showed that her absolute neutrophil count, which is the fighting white blood cells, was critically low. Doctors immediately sent Szuch to Charleston Area Medical Center where a blood smear was done and she received the unfortunate diagnosis.
“I was kind of numb. I didn’t really believe it when he said it. I just sat there and listened to all of the things that he said was going to happen. He walked in and said you have cancer and immediately went into the surgeries they were about to do,” Szuch explained. “We are going to start your chemotherapy on Tuesday and it was like Sunday. Two days. It was crazy and I didn’t really process it until I had my port in and getting it actively done.”
The treatment for Leukemia has to be done in phases and covers roughly two-and-a-half years.
“The first couple of phases is getting it out the bone marrow. They do a bone marrow biopsy when you are first diagnosed to see how much you have in there. Then they do it again after a month to make sure it is all out of the bone marrow and you have hit remission,” Szuch said. “You have a couple of more phases, then you hit interim maintenance one at the two year mark. That gives you your end of treatment date, which was 9/21/23 for me.”
Szuch knew she was in a battle in regards to her health, but she refused to put her life on hold during the battle.
“When the doctor told me I had cancer, I just wanted to know if I could go to school. They laugh about it now, but that was my priority. Can I go to school? Can I run? When am I getting out?,” Szuch said. “My mom has always been like, you can’t use it as a crutch. She has never let me use anything as a crutch. When I was diagnosed, I just told myself I couldn’t stop. This is high school and you only get high school once.”
The spring of her ninth grade year, Szuch was back on the track with some slight modifications. However, those modifications did not last long.
“Once track season started I ran with the sprinters. I did sprints for the first half of my freshman year and ran the 200 (meters),” Szuch said. “It was still bad because when you don’t have enough blood you don’t get the oxygen that you need. I ended up wheezing and had to stop and take a second. About halfway through the season I started training for the mile and distance. I am not a sprinter at all. They were being nice by letting me run the 200 (meters).”
When her sophomore year rolled around, Szuch was back running the trails in cross-country.
Shady Spring head coach Eric Lawson was also an accomplished runner in high school. Lawson gave some insight to what the body goes through during a cross-country event.
“When I would run and I gave everything that I had, by the time I got to the finish line, every time that my foot pounded the ground, it felt hollow,” Lawson explained. “Literally every ounce of energy that you have is gone and that is me running healthy.”
Not only was Szuch fighting the effects of the treatment and the grueling requirements of the sport, there were lumbar punctures to deal with as well.
“During front-line you get weekly lumbar punctures for one part of it. Then it spreads out to monthly,” Szuch said. “A lot of the times I would get my lumbar puncture and go to practice because you can’t miss practice. You have to go. I would take some Tylenol and go.”
Success in cross-country requires a high level of mental toughness. Lawson has witnessed the mental toughness of numerous runners that competed at a high level. Szuch has taken mental toughness to a new level.
“She is taking lumbar punctures and chemotherapy and coming in and running anyway,” Lawson said. “She refused to alter her practice schedule. If she missed a day of practice because she had to do chemotherapy or had a doctor’s appointment, she would text me or (assistant coach Elizabeth) Hegele and get the workout.”
“If there was a lift involved at the gym, she would get it and do it too,” Lawson went on to say. “She did everything that everybody else did. With all that she went through, I don’t know how she did. I really don’t. She is so mentally tough. Her mental toughness is amazing.”
Running during the treatment period was not easy by any stretch of the imagination. However, like she mentioned before, she was not going to use the treatments as a crutch.
“It was definitely really hard. I am a very competitive person, so I would push myself to keep up with everyone else. Obviously it is really hard when you don’t have your full capacity, so it took a lot of work,” Szuch explained. “It took a lot of drive mentally because my back was hurting and I would struggling to breath. But, I was going to run up that hill and keep up with our third place runner and it was going to be fine. It took some kind of mental switch that said this is not going to stop me.”
Along with her mental toughness, Lawson has been impressed with his runner’s overall attitude during the last two seasons.
“Spring will be three years since she was diagnosed. She never let it get her down. She was never defined as the kid with leukemia,” Lawson said. “She is still this kid that enjoys life, enjoys school, enjoys sports and enjoys her friends. She didn’t let it bother her on the surface and she has had the best attitude about it. She has been awesome.”
Lawson also talked about how Szuch’s experience has served as an inspiration, even for himself.
“It made me take a step back,” Lawson said. “Cross-country is important to me, but there are bigger things. If she can muscle through and get here every day, do what she is supposed to do, why can’t I? She has definitely served as an inspiration.”
Following her last trip to the treatment center, the Shady Spring cross country team got together for a celebration.
“We had a party for her on her last day of treatment. We had some cupcakes and enjoyed being around each other,” Lawson said. “The kids were all excited for her and cheered for her. Definitely one of the coolest moments of my coaching career.”
Saturday morning Szuch and her Shady Spring teammates will run at the Shady Spring Invitation. It will be Szuch’s first event since her final treatment date.
“Wow, I hadn’t even thought about that. It is kind of ironic isn’t it,” Szuch said, smiling.
