Abby Hughes — Pushing her limits to the finish

With the first of her three senior seasons coming to a close — currently, cross country, and with indoor and outdoor track and field on the horizon — Abby Hughes had some time to reflect back on her journey at Holy Cross. Arriving on The Hill as primarily a middle distance runner, taking on cross country brought on its own challenges to overcome, but she was met with encouragement and support from her coaches and her teammates that began to shift her mindset and allow herself to become someone who thrives in cross country. 

Hughes has shown consistent growth over the past three years, leading her into her most successful season yet as the Crusaders prepare for the NCAA Northeast Regional this Friday, Nov. 15 in Hopkinton, N.H. She highlighted the consistent encouragement from associate head coach for cross country Stephanie Reilly starting her sophomore year as what pushed her to believe in herself as a distance runner and that she would be able to be successful in cross country.

“It's a snowball effect going all the way back to my sophomore year when I started training under our coach Steph Reilly,” Hughes said. “All of our training is a continuation of one another, and distance running is a linear sport.”

With this continuous growth, Hughes has proven to be a valuable asset for the Crusaders during her senior year. This season alone, she has set three career personal bests — in the 3,000 meters (10:02.98, CCSU Mini Meet), 5,000 meters (18:27.82, New England Championship), and 6,000 meters (21:49.5, Patriot League Championship). In addition to these impressive times, Hughes has been the top finisher for Holy Cross in every meet the Crusaders have competed at this season, including a recent 28th-place finish at the Patriot League Championship.

As a first-time captain this season, Hughes has taken on a new leadership role for her teammates. While always being a vocal teammate, she has been able to step up even more this year, providing her teammates with new forms of encouragement and someone to look to. 

Hughes works closely with her co-captain Caroline Gage as their two different dynamics balance each other out well. With Hughes being more vocal, Gage leads more by example, and their creation of a positive environment for the team has allowed them to find success on the course, as well as having a supportive group cheering everyone on.

Her switch from the high school to collegiate level provided Hughes with the mental motivation that keeps her going through her races. She noted that her high school teams were on the smaller side and she did not practice on a track there, so the switch to a program with elevated resources and facilities continued to push her through her training.

Hughes expressed that she understands she is racing against a clock, but that in some cases, you might need to find something else to race against. Her mental toughness has also been shown this season through all of her successes.

“Maybe you're having a bad race and you fell behind,” Hughes said. “But there's probably still a girl to your right. You can still work through to beat her, or you can still catch up to the pack in front of you. You can zone in on one specific thing to focus on and keep you going through.”

Having a strong support system can act as motivation as well, and Hughes is surrounded by one. In addition to the support of Reilly, Hughes expressed how solid her mother has been as support through any sport she has participated in, and how her teammates are daily motivation for each other.

Participating in athletics at the collegiate level can be a busy lifestyle choice, with practices and contests taking up a bulk of your time, but that extra time spent surrounded by teammates can grow into friendships. Hughes explained that time spent with her teammates has brought some of her best college memories — even for something as simple as them being the people she finds herself getting a quick bite with or hanging out with after practices.

“I attribute a lot of the best parts of my college career to cross country and track,” Hughes said.

Her positive memories of this season began back in preseason during training camp. The team decided to create their own Olympics this year to add some fun to training, but they had to push themselves through a swimming relay. With the cold water and weather not making the splash enjoyable, Hughes expressed how solid their team culture is that everyone was willing to get in, participate, and have fun  — regardless of the temperature.

Moving through her senior year, Hughes has been able to think back on all of her highs and lows of college athletics. When asked what advice she would give younger athletes, she expressed how important it is to be patient — Hughes has seen most of her successes within the past two years of her career, so she had to keep pushing to get there.

“I think it's pretty common that you're going to see a lot more failure than you're going to see success,” Hughes shared. “As much as that isn't a fun story, it makes those moments when you do have a moment of success so much more special.”

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