The 2019 Pella High School Homecoming Queen has had quite the start to her senior year so far.

Caroline McMartin has been involved in the Marching Dutch color guard and is the senior captain of the Lady Dutch Cross Country team, and was elected by her peers to represent the school for festivities this week.

There’s been extra motivation for McMartin to succeed on the cross country team this year, as well; the three-time state qualifier is pushing for a top finish this fall to end her high school career. McMartin says she’s been extra motivated by how last fall ended for her, as at the state meet, she collapsed just meters short of the finish line while in the top 10 of the 3A girls race.

“Sometimes in races, I’ll be feeling really tired or something, and I’ll be like ‘well, you know I have this little extra from State last year, I might as well use it right now,’ and I never want that [finish] to happen again, and I wouldn’t wish it for anyone else,” she says. “So just being able to finish each race and working to being able to cross it as fast as I can, knowing that I did my best, is just such a good feeling, so just trying to recreate that each time I can is really important.”

McMartin says she’s not letting that one moment define her, but instead, it’s motivation to get back to the final race of the season and pay off the past year of work to get herself back to running among Iowa’s best.

“It’s kind of bittersweet, because now is my last time–there’s no more ‘maybe next year,’ she says. “The good thing last year was it was my junior year, and so I knew that I had this senior season left and it kind of gave me a little hope, because it’s not like they ended my last high school career race that way.”

“This year, I have something to look forward to, and obviously there’s a bit of nerves thinking about state, because that’s when it happened and everything, but each course I complete, I feel like I’ve completed stronger and faster and better than last year or any previous years, and just being a better competitor and that’s what I’m trying to focus on this year is more like the process in the small things I can do each race, and not necessarily thinking about, ‘oh, what if that happens again at state next year or what if something worse happens. I’m just thinking about everything I can control to make it the best year that I can have.”

Hear more about McMartin’s comeback senior campaign and her goals before graduation on today’s Radio Sports Page, which airs at 6 p.m. this evening on KNIA/KRLS.