Temple University Athletics
Season-Ending Injury Leads to New Motivation for Moore
9.18.19 | Women's Cross Country
The 2018-19 indoor track and field season was off to an incredible start for now senior cross country runner Grace Moore. It was January 26 when the Owls took the track for the distance medley relay at the Columbia Challenge in New York. Temple shattered the school record for the event led by a 4:46.9 mile anchor split by Moore. On day two of the meet, Moore took to the track where she posted an impressive 9:26.29 in the 3000m, surpassing her previous personal best by 13 seconds. Temple head cross country coach James Snyder describes the race by saying "it wasn't only a huge personal best for her, but we are kind of closing the gap on a long-standing school record." The performance led Moore to be "super excited for what was ahead!"
Just a week after that race Moore was diagnosed with a stress fracture in her right foot and remembers being told "I would be out for eight weeks from the point of diagnosis." This injury came as a huge loss for the team as Moore had the potential to score points in multiple events on the track at the indoor championships. Even though she ran these times very early in the year, "she was top two in the conference rankings for both of those events before the conference meet, so it was even more frustrating when she couldn't race," Snyder said.Â
The road to recovery was not easy nor without bumps. Moore said "the recovery process involved multiple hours of swimming a day." This can be incredibly draining on an athlete, but Moore did not succumb to it. Snyder applauded her efforts, saying "usually an injury comes with a little bit of frustration, animosity, and complacency, but with Grace, it did the exact opposite." The injury simply led to more motivation for Moore to return even stronger than she had been. Due to a setback in her recovery in March, she had to also redshirt the outdoor season of track. However, in May she was able to run a race out of uniform as part of her training where she made an incredible debut in her first 5,000m race.
At the Swarthmore last chance meet on May 13, Moore stepped onto the track with little clarity as to her fitness level. However, over the last mile of the race, Moore took the lead and there was no looking back. She finished with a time of 16:44, a mark that is the fastest since the graduation of former All-American Blanca Fernandez in 2016. Moore was thrilled with the race and said that being able to "run my first 5K successfully makes me really excited to run that race again!" Snyder added that "she ran a mark that in a competitive field qualifies her for the regional meet, which I know has been a goal of hers for a long time."
The performance at Swarthmore set strong expectations for summer training and for the 2019 season. Summer training concluded without a hitch as the team reported to campus in August. Moore appears to be picking up where she left off in January. Snyder adds high praise by saying "she is training like a girl who will be at the national meet." Only one Temple runner has ever qualified for the national meet (Fernandez), but that goal is something that Moore believes is possible.
The team will return to action on Friday, September 20 at the Iona Meet of Champions at Van Cortland Park in Bronx, N.Y. The last time the Owls competed there, they took home the ECAC title led by Moore's individual victory.
Expectations are high for the 2019 season. "We hope to be conference champions as a team and contend for a chance at the national meet," said Moore. The expectations for individual performance are no smaller for Moore. In the near term "on Friday we get a chance to see a couple of nationally-ranked teams, and I don't see anyone in that field that Grace can't run with," said Snyder. The expectations might be bold, but the time spent putting in the work over the spring and summer has made them possible.
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Just a week after that race Moore was diagnosed with a stress fracture in her right foot and remembers being told "I would be out for eight weeks from the point of diagnosis." This injury came as a huge loss for the team as Moore had the potential to score points in multiple events on the track at the indoor championships. Even though she ran these times very early in the year, "she was top two in the conference rankings for both of those events before the conference meet, so it was even more frustrating when she couldn't race," Snyder said.Â
The road to recovery was not easy nor without bumps. Moore said "the recovery process involved multiple hours of swimming a day." This can be incredibly draining on an athlete, but Moore did not succumb to it. Snyder applauded her efforts, saying "usually an injury comes with a little bit of frustration, animosity, and complacency, but with Grace, it did the exact opposite." The injury simply led to more motivation for Moore to return even stronger than she had been. Due to a setback in her recovery in March, she had to also redshirt the outdoor season of track. However, in May she was able to run a race out of uniform as part of her training where she made an incredible debut in her first 5,000m race.
At the Swarthmore last chance meet on May 13, Moore stepped onto the track with little clarity as to her fitness level. However, over the last mile of the race, Moore took the lead and there was no looking back. She finished with a time of 16:44, a mark that is the fastest since the graduation of former All-American Blanca Fernandez in 2016. Moore was thrilled with the race and said that being able to "run my first 5K successfully makes me really excited to run that race again!" Snyder added that "she ran a mark that in a competitive field qualifies her for the regional meet, which I know has been a goal of hers for a long time."
The performance at Swarthmore set strong expectations for summer training and for the 2019 season. Summer training concluded without a hitch as the team reported to campus in August. Moore appears to be picking up where she left off in January. Snyder adds high praise by saying "she is training like a girl who will be at the national meet." Only one Temple runner has ever qualified for the national meet (Fernandez), but that goal is something that Moore believes is possible.
The team will return to action on Friday, September 20 at the Iona Meet of Champions at Van Cortland Park in Bronx, N.Y. The last time the Owls competed there, they took home the ECAC title led by Moore's individual victory.
Expectations are high for the 2019 season. "We hope to be conference champions as a team and contend for a chance at the national meet," said Moore. The expectations for individual performance are no smaller for Moore. In the near term "on Friday we get a chance to see a couple of nationally-ranked teams, and I don't see anyone in that field that Grace can't run with," said Snyder. The expectations might be bold, but the time spent putting in the work over the spring and summer has made them possible.
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Players Mentioned
/ Women's Cross Country
/ Women's Cross Country
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