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Martins Ferry's Olivia Walton defines the word motivation. Her junior campaign in 2017 was definitely one to remember as she received multiple awards including All-OVAC, All-OVCCL and All-District.
"She had a great season. She made it to the regional meet as an individual qualifier and was All-OVAC," Martins Ferry cross country coach Chrissy Lewis said. "She really, really came on at the end of the year. She is an incredible worker that is pretty focused on her running and is trying to get better. She just pushes herself as hard as she can. She got to see some success from that last year."
What makes Walton's accolades even more special was the spring prior to her junior year of cross country, she missed the entire track season due to an injury. She developed a knee injury in the winter and could not get to the point to run any races.
"I think that was a big push for her for the cross country season," Lewis said. "When she was healthy and was able to run, she went after it and was determined to make up for lost time from the injury."
Her dedication paid off. In some of the bigger meets last year, Walton led the Purple Riders in the OVAC meet as she secured 28th place in as she crossed the finish line with a time of 20:33.43.
In one of her more impressive meets of the season, Walton finished 18th at the district meet at Cambridge clocking in at 20:29.6 to secure a spot at the regional meet.
This year, with one more season in a Purple Rider uniform, Walton would like to run at another destination during the postseason.
"Just moving up from what she did last year. She wants to move up and finish higher than what she did in OVACs last year and place well there," Lewis said. "Ultimately, she would love to make it to state. It's going to take a lot to get there. We're hoping she advances to the regional and places well and has a healthy season. That's the biggest thing."
At the regional meet at Pickerington, Walton timed in at 21:04.83.