Lily Hoffman races back into competition, qualifies for nationals

by ENYA CEA-LAVIN

Sports Editor

Lily Hoffman, a junior environmental sustainability and policy and political science double major, has qualified to compete in Spartanburg, S.C. on Nov. 22 at the NCAA Division III National Championships for the second time in her collegiate career. 

Despite fracturing her femur in March, her 4th place win in the Coast-to-Coast Conference on Nov. 1 and 9th place in regionals this past weekend, qualified her for nationals as well as awarded her with the title of all-region honors. 

Prior to her return to running in July, Hoffman used the love for her sport and teammates as motivation to continue training. 

“I missed my team and sport, but also I lost a lot of endurance,” she said. “I thought I would never recover, but I started running again in July. I slowly slowly built my mileage back up and trusted the progress.”

Throughout the healing process, Hoffman’s mindset and patience helped her get to nationals as much as any physical training did.

“Having a positive mindset to combat negative thoughts is so helpful,” she said. “Telling myself to be patient and that I have control over the outcome of my race has really alleviated my racing anxiety.” 

She has learned that this positive mindset has been beneficial for her racing. Not only does it allow her to prevent injuries as she addresses pain early on, it sets a clear mind for race day.

“I am taking better care of myself holistically so I can be a better runner and so I won’t get an injury again,” she said. “Also I’m really emphasizing the mental aspect of racing because it is so important to the success of your race.”

Going into this season, Hoffman worried her chances of success and hitting a personal record were slim. Despite the initial doubts, her determination led to a dominant performance that qualified her for the most competitive race in her division. 

“I felt a little scared and unsure that I wasn’t going to be fast enough, but I was so glad that I could run again because I missed it so much,” she said.

Now that Hoffman qualified for nationals, she wants to stay focused and push herself to beat her previous personal record. 

“My main goal was to get here, but now that I have I want to get a PR,” she said. “I don’t have as direct of a goal for this race because there are so many fast people to compete with, but I want to make sure I can keep myself really focused during the race and push myself through the pain to get a good time.”

After successfully coming back from her injury, Hoffman has put particular emphasis on staying healthy and practicing self care.

“Hydrating and electrolytes have really helped me feel better on race days,” she said. 

The road to recovery has not been linear, so making sure she keeps up on completing her workouts has helped keep her race ready.

“Getting the miles in every week and being consistent has really helped me improve my endurance,” she said.

It is clear her hard work has paid off two years in a row, which is something she says couldn’t have been done without the support of her coaches. 

“I want to thank my coaches, Stearns, Davis and Hart, for getting me this far because they are so helpful and supportive,” Hoffman said. “Good coaches truly make the difference.” 

Aside from her hard work in the cross country season, she hopes to end her junior year by placing well in conferences and make her way to nationals for the outdoor track 10k.

“I’m looking forward to outdoor track season so I can run my first 10k,” she said.