SEQUIM — Emily Silva’s races are far from over.
The Sequim High senior signed a letter of intent earlier this year to run cross country and track at Olympic College in Bremerton.
“I never imagined a college would reach out to me,” Silva said. “We toured the college and met some of the teammates; it seemed like an overall positive environment.”
A four-year veteran with the Wolves’ cross country team, Silva said she was contacted by Ranger coaches after seeing her prep times, and encouraged to run track as well — despite not participating with the Wolves’ track team prior to this spring.
“I’m not a fan [of the oval] but I’m willing to try, [to] get a feel of it,” Silva said before the coronavirus caused the cancellation of all spring season prep sports.
The Sequim youth got her start in community 5Ks, finding early success in her age groups while getting training runs with her mom, Julianne Coonts.
“I thought, ‘Wow, this isn’t too bad,’” Silva said of those early competitions.
She joined the Sequim High cross country team her freshman year.
“Everyone on the team was very fun to be with [and] it was fun to run with people my age,” Silva said.
“I got to make friends [through the team], people I didn’t ever really know at the school.”
She said a highlight of her prep cross country experiences was racing at the Three-Course Challenge in Seaside, Ore. Over her time she got to experience all three courses: easy, moderate and hard.
“The team got to bond and get closer,” Silva recalled.
Silva said she plans to study business and marketing in college, with the overall goal of working for Costco — her mother’s employer — as an international merchandiser.
But she isn’t going too far anytime soon, as Olympic is a little more than an hour away.
“I can come home when I need to,” Silva said.
Silva set her personal best 5,000-meter mark as a senior at the Nike Hole-In-The-Wall XC Invitational on Oct. 12, finishing in 22:59. She finished 34th at the league meet and 52nd at the West Central District meet — her best individual placings in those races — to cap her senior season.
In 2019, Olympic advanced three female runners to the NWAC cross country finals, with freshman Rubyjean Stuit placing 21st overall.
