Cheryl Spring was nearing the end of the race at the Penn State National Invitational last year, but as the finish line approached, fatigue began to overwhelm her.
She needed that one extra source of motivation to get her over the line. As the discomfort grew unbearable, she received the thrust she needed -- literally.
"I felt this hand on the back and it was my teammate," Spring said. "It made me really know that she had my back. It made me know that I will always have hers."
The teammate, Claire Berryman, truly did have her fellow runner's "back" in this instance.
Berryman not only gave her teammate that extra jolt, but in doing so, she allowed Spring to finish before her.
"Claire put Cheryl in front of her. She didn't try to beat her, she tried to help her across so that we'd win the meet," sophomore Leah Rosenfeld said.
It is this same sense of being there for each other that motivates the Penn State women's crosscountry team to battle through pain.
Spring recalls running by herself in Houston over the summer, and the one thing that kept her from stopping or slowing down was the thought of her fellow runners.
Thinking of the team -- whether it be running in Texas or approaching the finish in a meet -- seems to work in all cases for Spring. But she is not the only one who believes feeding off another teammate brings extra motivation.
Last year at regionals, Claire Percival also received a shove from Berryman.
But this time, the push was mental rather than physical. Percival recalled that when she found her teammate running side-by-side with her, her drive increased.
"You get so much motivation when you see someone on your team. Whether you see them up ahead, in front of you, or whether they're running right beside you, that's a huge source of motivation," Percival said.
"I think all of us would say that."
Spring still remembers to this day the shove on the back that Berryman gave her last year. The "push" made Spring realize that her teammates are always there to put the team before themselves.
With a run at the Big Ten Championships and a hopeful qualification for nationals this upcoming season, the Lions are going to need all the extra flare they can find.
"We all have so much motivation -- doing it for each other or doing it for ourselves or our coaches, or just for the pride of Penn State," Spring said. "It's just so easy for us to work so hard because we have so many things to work for."
