Clay Cross Country Runner Wins Sportsmanship Award

Clay County Cross Country senior Mia Ledbetter honored by the TSSAA with the Award of Excellence for her outstanding sportsmanship, ethics and integrity.

While cross country is an individual sport, Ledbetter said she has enjoyed the team aspects of the sport. She said throughout her career it has not always been fellow Bulldogs pushing her and encouraging her, it was opposing runners. She said seeing that made her do the same.

“There’s girls that I’ve ran with and they stopped over to the side and I’ve always just grabbed them and told them to come on and don’t stop,” Ledbetter said. “That’s what I like about it, the meets and stuff, people push you and don’t want you quitting.”

Ledbetter said sportsmanship is what makes cross country such a special sport, she noted that forming bonds with her teammates was an amazing experience. Clay County XC head coach Jermaine McElvain said Ledbetter exemplifies what this award is about and said she is selfless to a fault.

“She’s kind of been our team leader honestly,” McElvain said. “It’s almost like she’s the big sister that tries to keep everybody together in a way. She always puts others before herself.”

An injury forced Ledbetter to miss out on being healthy for her junior season. McElvain said he was proud of the way she bounced back her senior year and pushed herself to be her best.

With her last meet in the books, Ledbetter said she will always remember her time with the team and creating bonds with both the underclassmen and former upperclassmen. She said winning the award is an unexpected way to end her high school XC career.

“I am very grateful to be able to win this award,” Ledbetter said. “I was not expecting to get that, but I am beyond words grateful.”