Abigail Touhey, six-year senior and Girls Cross Country captain, emerged victorious in her 44th race, the NEPSAC Division I Championship. It was a fitting end to her high school cross-country running career.
Abigail, a day student from Northampton, Mass., began running at the age of seven, starting with track and 5ks mostly. It was in seventh grade, when she started at Williston’s middle school, that she began her extraordinary athletic career.
Though she had never run as part of a team before, Abigail quickly adapted to a competitive and hard-working environment. On her first race ever, she came in first for the school and second overall, an event she describes as “a big blast into the scene.” From then on, it was all about getting better.
Head Coach and Academic Dean Greg Tuleja noted that Abigail’s outstanding talent and passion for the sport have been constant since her first year on the team. Even with relatively small room for improvement, she managed to surprise the coaches with her excellence.
Her first Williston 5k time, six years ago, was 24:25. Her best time is almost five minutes faster, at 19:45.
“Abigail was so good even when she first started, there was not that far to improve,” Tuleja said. “Although [a drop of] five minutes is a lot.”
Perseverance is one of her key qualities, vastly reflected in her continued and consistent athletic performance. During her time at Williston, Abigail never missed a race. Year after year, she has been a Plank Award winner, an honor that values consistency.
She is also the number one place holder in the school’s running honor roll. Additionally, she won the Most Valuable Runner award every year since seventh grade, something that hasn’t been accomplished by any other runner in the history of the school. She is “one of the two or three best runners ever to compete for Williston Girls Cross Country,” Coach Tuleja said.
Eighth grade represented a year full of firsts for the star runner. During that fall, Abigail won her first race against Taft, qualified for NEPSACs, and set a school course record. However, the athlete’s success was not linear. During her freshman year, Abigail faced a season of struggle, coming into preseason with shin splints and having to work her way back from the injury. “It was a pretty good season, but it was not as good as I had hoped to do,” she recalled.
Abigail proudly talks about her sophomore year as her best season up to that point. It was the period when she began winning multiple races and the year Williston won the Shaler Invitational, a home race that had never been won by Williston before.
Tenth grade came with many other accomplishments, since it hosted the race she ran a personal best for only the second time since seventh grade. In addition, it was the season she broke the big 20, a goal she had been aiming for. She hit the finish line with a time of 19:45, an all-time best.
Due to Covid, in 2020 the Cross Country team experienced a strange and interrupted season, with not a single inter-school race.
Nevertheless, she came in strong for her senior season. Despite a rough start, Abigail was able to climb her way back to the top, winning the race against KO and Westminster, and later on, an important five-school competition.
Because of her extraordinary performance at the NEPSAC race on Saturday Nov. 13, she was once again invited to the All-Star race on Nov. 20, where only the top 20 finishers of NEPSAC race compete. She won that race as well, with a time of 19:50.
The race didn’t come without challenges, however. For the last two miles, she was neck-and-neck with another runner; it was her competitiveness, she said, that pushed her during the last quarter mile. Even after a season — and career — full of hard work, Abigail said she was surprised about the win.
“Going into the race, I had not expected to come in first,” she said. “It was great to have such a strong finish to my season.”
Abigail became only the second Williston NEPSAC Girls Cross Country champion in the last 39 years, according to an email Mark Conroy, Director of Athletics, sent out to the school.
Aside from being an amazing runner, Abigail is also an important asset to the Cross-Country team and the Williston community.
Annika von Schoeler-Ames, six-year senior and co-captain of the Cross Country team, noted Abigail’s compassionate and strong character.
“She has a quiet charisma that makes her a vital part of the team’s spirit. Her kindness and strength make her an excellent captain,” Annika said.
This year, during her last season, Abigail had the privilege of being one of the team captains, which meant a great deal to her. She commented on the personal importance she assigned to the post.
“It was really exciting to become a captain this year because I have been here since seventh grade,” she said. “I have gotten to look up to my captains every single year. I still remember them, and their names, and the impact they had on me to this day, because they were such great leaders.”
Abigail strives to be as inspiring to her teammates as her previous leaders were to her.
“This year I get to be in that position,” she said. “I want to help people find the love for this sport. I want to become someone people go get advice from.”
Coach Tuleja’s admiration for Abigail was clear when he spoke about her remarkable team leadership and hard work.
“Abigail leads by example,” he said. “No one trains harder than she does or gives the team and her teammates more of herself.”