Milford’s Hawkins trying to get to the next level during cross country season

Courtney Hawkins didn’t always like cross country.

The Milford High School senior didn’t start running the longer distances until she was in eighth grade, and being one of the older middle school runners was tough for someone just starting out.

“When I first started running, I was just told to do cross country,” Hawkins said. “I tried out in eighth grade and it was very intimidating at first. Starting at an older age, you’re looked at as the top. I got used to it.”

Now, when other runners look at Hawkins, they’re seeing her from behind.

As a junior, Hawkins not only finished first at the Meet of Champions, she was named New Hampshire’s Gatorade Cross Country Player of the Year.

At the Division II indoor track meet, she won the 3,000-meter run, finished third in the 1,500 and fourth in the 1,000. Then, during the outdoor season, Hawkins won the 1,600 at MOCs by eight seconds.

She also won the Division II outdoor title in the 3,200 and the indoor 1,500 title as a sophomore.

But Hawkins will be looking for one title that has eluded her this fall – the Division II cross country title. She finished second as a sophomore, and last year, ran what she called one of her worst races, despite finishing fourth.

“It was a really rough race last year,” Hawkins said. “That’s one of my goals (winning Division II), along with a repeat in MOCs.

“I’m setting the bar high, but I know I can definitely do it again. I can’t get used to the victory and think it’s going to happen again. I’ve got to work just as hard, if not harder, for it to happen again. It’s not just going to happen.”

Hawkins spent her summer running, doing some competitive runs for fun along with workouts on the track. Some of those runs were done along with some of her top competitors, including Manchester Central’s Elizabeth Conway, who finished second to Hawkins at the MOCs.

“In the offseason, we were training together and doing laps together to keep going,” she said. “I’ve come a long way and improved so much. I’m making it the best senior year that I can.”

While the work on the track will help, Hawkins believe that being a year old, and the experience that goes with it, will help her reach her ultimate goal of running at the Nike Cross Nationals, which will be held Dec. 1 in Portland Meadows, Ore. A year ago, Hawkins finished off her season at the Foot Locker Cross Country Championship, but felt afterward that she didn’t run her best.

“I psyched myself out,” she said. It had been a long season, so I was kind of like ‘let’s just do it to do it.’ I didn’t have the right mindset, so I got 30^th and its top 10 to make it (to nationals).

“I was looking at the times and the ones that made it, I’m around those times. Hopefully, if I have the right mindset and train harder, I can do it.”