Unlike a typical high school athlete, Mustang 3×4 awardee, Sarah Ingraham, 12, participated in not one or two, but three sports throughout all four years of high school.

“I participated in three sports all four years because I loved doing something active. I also feel like working out is stress relieving,” she said. “I love going on runs and doing drills with my teammates.
It was nice to have a part of my day devoted to it.”

Ingraham participated in soccer and track in all four years, basketball during 9th and 10th grade, and nordic skiing during 11th and 12th grade.

Of all the sports that Ingraham plays, her favorite is soccer. “I really like the team aspect of it. It is also the sport I’ve played the longest and really growing up with the sport makes you super attached to it.” She has been playing soccer since she was four years old.

After participating in 12 sports seasons, Ingraham has surpassed a lot of challenges and learned many lessons. Aside from a couple injuries and constant body pains, Ingraham believes that her biggest challenge was time management. “It was hard juggling rigorous AP classes, sports practices, orchestra and my social life all at once,” she said. “I just had to remind myself of my goals to keep my priorities straight.”

 
Her participation in sports has also taught Ingraham life lessons and has helped her improve her social skills. “I’ve learned how to work with other people, regardless of whether I agree with their principles or not,” she said. “At the end of the day, it doesn’t matter who they are. The only thing that matters is that we were able to work together to accomplish our goals.”

 
With all her experience and the lessonsthat she learned, Ingraham believes that she’s ready to face college. “Participation in sports will help me out a lot in college especially because I will be joining Army ROTC in college,” she said.

 
One of the best advice Ingraham has gotten from her coaches is to trust herself. “In track I always run tight so my coach would just keep telling me to take a deep breathe, trust in my abilities and my training and everything will be okay,” she said.

 
Although her self determination was a huge part of her success, Ingraham’s parents also helped her a lot. “My parents have been a huge part of my sports career. They’ve always been there for me, helping and supporting me in every step,” she said. “They try to make it to all of my games and meets. Whenever I got discouraged, they were always there to pick me up and remind me how far I’ve already gone.”