Winter Springs’ Wells running through the competition
WINTER SPRINGS, Fla. (BVM) — Finding a pathway to success in Florida high school sports is one of the most difficult things to do at the prep level. With a total of 2,227 high schools, Florida ranks third in the U.S. in terms of student enrollment. So winning the state’s Gatorade Player of the Year in cross country is quite the feat, and Caroline Wells of Winter Springs High School did that with all of her 5-foot-1 frame.
In large part thanks to Wells, the Bears were able to race their way to a 3A team state championship this season while she won an individual title. But she didn’t stop there, adding District 6 and Region 2 championships, plus a first-place finish at the FSU Pre-State Invitational. On the AAU circuit, Wells placed high at nationals, coming in at seventh.
And to think Wells may have never recognized her potential in the sport if it wasn’t for some inspiration from a former teammate. During her freshman year at the district meet, Wells was roomed with this unidentified teammate whom she looked up to. It was at this moment that she thought to herself, “If I keep working hard, I can be a lot better.”
Since then, she’s had the perfect coach to oversee her development at Winter Springs. That coach is Octavius Clark who won a gold medal himself in the 800 meter event at the 1991 Pan American Games. So for “Ocky” to speak so highly of Wells speaks volumes.
“Caroline Wells combines natural talent with a world–class work ethic that’s beyond her years. It has been a joy coaching someone who is usually 15 minutes early to train and always the last one to leave,” Clark told Gatorade.
But the feeling is mutual. Without Clark at her side, Wells doesn’t think she’d be the runner she is today.
“He’s been so amazing to me. He always challenges me and he’s such a good mentor and he really does a great job with everything,” Wells said. “Giving me advice, pushing me and making me a better runner and athlete.”
While Clark and Wells recognize one another’s value, one has to think that Wells’ teammates are fond of her also. While the future college runner does hope to achieve her own success, she does it in a selfless way. She enters competition with a mindset of winning, but doing it for the collective group rather than herself.
She’d do anything for the girls that draw her to the sport she loves. Wells says that the atmosphere surrounding the team when all the girls are together is one of her favorite things about it.
“Being a standout teammate is scoring the lowest points as you can and competing when it matters. Running for your team and not running for yourself,” Wells said. “You have to make certain sacrifices to be a good teammate.”
And while she makes those on-course sacrifices for her team, she also sacrifices her time away from the sport. To be eligible for Gatorade Player of the Year, an athlete must spend some volunteering time and that is no problem for Wells. Wells doesn’t just do one token event, but is closer to being a full-blown volunteer.
She helps out with youth running programs, vacation bible camp and elementary school reading programs. Giving back to the community is something she’s invested in.
“It’s really important to give back. Over the offseason, I usually do rabbit races for my old middle school coach and I like going back to my old elementary school,” Wells said. “It’s a lot of fun to help because I did all those things. It’s nice to give back to those things that I was a part of.”
With this impressive resume continuing to build and her senior season still ahead of her, Wells will be a college athlete in no time. While she wouldn’t say which schools she is talking to, she did say that she hopes to be committed to one by early fall. The hard part will be picking the college, because there’ll be plenty that want her talents.
