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My PrepZone is an opportunity for student-athletes on the Treasure Coast to tell their own stories by either writing or dictating them. Author Hannah Martin is one of the most decorated distance runners on the Treasure Coast in the past decade. She was the 2018 All-Area Cross Country Runner of the Year, is a finalist for the award against this year and she also earned first-team all-area honors in track.  After signing a scholarship to run at Southern Miss on Monday, Martin dictated the following story to TCPalm sports reporter Jon Santucci.

I felt a little nervous when I signed with Southern Miss.

I knew I wanted to go there, and it felt right for me. I knew it was going to work out, but it was still nerve-wracking.

I had worked hard for this and it’s what I wanted for so many years. It was a little emotional when I signed.

More: TCPalm 2019 Girls Cross-Country All-Area Team

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The reason why I chose Southern Miss? It was just a feeling. I really enjoyed the team and the coaching staff there. It’s a new adventure and it’s just a feeling I had that it was the right place. At the end, it came down to Southern Miss and North Florida. USF and Flager also offered me, but it was pretty much between UNF and Southern Miss.

This is something I worked a long time for.

I started running in elementary school. I always did the track meets and I was pretty good but it was not serious. My freshman year at South Fork, I really got serious and I started to like it. I was good at it.

Actually, I didn’t do so well at first. My first 5K, I remember it was 27 minutes. By the end of my freshman year though, I was down to 21 minutes and I enjoyed it. It was fun and it was a good team.

I started thinking I could run in college during my sophomore year. I had a teammate, Katrina Wynne, who was considering her options and I thought maybe it would be something I might be interested in. So, I watched her go through the process. I thought it was something I would want to consider someday.

Signing after school on Monday was interesting. We did all these speeches and it was emotional. It was special.

And then I went to track practice.

It was like, ‘Wait. I still have a whole season left.’ It was kind of a sad moment when I was signing, but then I just told myself to wait. I don’t have to be ready to leave yet. I still have the rest of track season to get through and there are things I want to accomplish.

My goal for the mile is to get in the low five (minutes). For the two miles, low 11’s. I know some of our teammates are hoping to break school records for relays.

I’m looking forward to having fun in my last season.  

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