Servant Leadership

“I was feeling nervous because I’d run maybe twice during the summer,” she said. “There was no distinction between varsity and JV. Everyone formed up, the coaches talked, and we stretched together. I saw all these much older runners leading the way. I was in awe of them. I felt that they wouldn’t even notice that I was there. I also have this distinct memory of them coming over and saying ‘hi’ and learning my name and telling me they were really excited I was on the team.”

 

So began Giles’s six-year, 18-season career as a Collegiate distance runner, a transcendent period during which she evolved from impressionable mentee to tone-setting mentor.

 

“I loved it,” the 2024 graduate said of the program that includes cross country, winter track, and spring track. “The best part was the people I got to be with. We celebrated our teammates and made them feel valued and special, but it was never really about the individual. It was always about the team.”

 

That culture resonated loudly and clearly and enabled her to maintain her equilibrium as she experienced both the highest of highs and what some might perceive to be the lowest of lows.

 

“I always felt so grateful to be part of this team, because I didn’t have to earn a position by running some fast time,” she said one recent morning after she stopped by Robins to work out with the teammates she had grown to love. “They welcomed everyone for who they were and what they came with.”

 

Giles’s career began with great promise. As a 7th grader, she ran 21:31.90 in the 5K in cross country and on the track clocked beyond-her-years personal bests of 2:39.30 in the 800, 5:44.88 in the 1600, and 12:31.70 in the 3200.

 

Covid then put a damper on both training and competition, and in the spring of 2021, as the world emerged from the shutdown, she found herself dealing with health issues that tested her physically but never diminished her spirit or resolve.

 

“There’ve been periods in my life when running felt really natural and easy and fun,” she said. “There’ve also been periods when running’s been really difficult and every step feels challenging. For me, certainly, there was a stark contrast between the two.”

 

The pivotal moment occurred in the 2021 VISAA spring track and field championship when she gamely plugged her way through the 3200 and ultimately crossed the line in 15:34.73.

 

She actually hadn’t achieved the qualifying time for that race but earned a spot to fill the field of entries.  Accepting it was a risk, she knew, considering that she was hardly 100 percent. She recalls that when she reported to the clerk to get her race number, she wondered if her name was even on the roster.

 

“I was nervous,” she said. “I got on the line. The gun went off. I did everything I could. I gave it my all.”

 

She struggled mightily from the outset. Every step was labored. As she struggled, likewise teammates, coaches, and the Collegiate faithful in the Sports Backers Stadium bleachers struggled to watch.

 

She never considered stopping, she said.

        

“The team has a culture of We’re going to love you no matter what,” said Matthew Richardson, who coached her through all 18 seasons. “It’s a culture she helped create. It allows somebody to run when they’re not feeling well and know that people have their back. It allows them to put more of themselves out there. Giles is a perfect example of that.”

 

Once Giles crossed the finish line, teammates and coaches rallied to her side. There were high-fives and hugs, just the right words, and nothing but support and admiration.

 

“That race was one of the defining moments of my running career,” she said. “It was one of the slower times I’ve ever run — I think that’s fair to say — but people recognized that I’d given it what I could and showed me that they were really proud of me for doing what I could do.”

 

Through her challenges, she never made excuses. She soldiered on, remained positive, and continued to lead as much by example as by her well-chosen words. She had the mindset that despite those challenges, better days were ahead.

 

“My parents [Wortie and Courtney] have been role models for me,” she said. “One of the biggest values in our family is our ability to be tough and persistent and not give up. That, and lifting other people up, are so important.”

 

There’s no “perfect” in distance running, of course, but Giles courageously navigated the obstacles in her path and finished her career strongly and memorably.

 

“It wasn’t a linear trajectory,” she said. “It was an upward trend line.”

 

Among her numerous athletic accomplishments, she played a key role in two LIS and three VISAA cross country titles and in solid team performances in the winter and spring track championship meets.

 

The culmination of her years wearing the green and gold, however, came this past May 18 in the state championship meet, contested, appropriately enough, at Sports Backers Stadium.

 

On a cool, rainy Saturday, she ran the second leg of the winning 4x800 relay in 2:32.8, four seconds faster than her previous best, as the Cougars won the state title in 9:47.21 and eclipsed the 29-year-old school record.

 

Several hours later, she covered 3200 meters in 12:10.08, an outdoor lifetime best. Her performance provided a magical, electric, and almost spiritual ending for a talented athlete and respected six-season team captain who dealt with adversity, never backed down, and truly overcame.

 

“The best part about the whole [health] experience was that I really got to focus on other people on the team instead of myself,” she said.  “At that time when my running really wasn’t that fast, I realized that it wasn’t about me at all. It was about making other people feel included and valued on the team and cheering them on.”

 

A week after the Cougars’ season ended, Giles addressed the assemblage at Collegiate’s graduation as the female valedictorian and earned, by virtue of her myriad contributions to the life of the school, the Rosemary Award, an honor bestowed upon “the senior girl who has best demonstrated the qualities of constructive leadership in all areas of school life.”

 

“Giles’s teammates have always looked up to her and see her as someone who puts the team first and cares about them, not just as runners but as people,” Richardson said. “She’ll be the first to tell you that she’s been blessed with great teammates, but they recognize that the level of leadership, spirit, joy for running, and love of team that she brings daily is phenomenal. That’s how she was raised. She had a lot of great role models when she was younger, and she learned from them. She did a great job, especially when things were hard, to stay positive and lead.”

 

Giles has deferred her admission to Princeton until the fall of 2025 to participate in the Novogratz Bridge Year Program. She’ll serve a nine-month stint in Cambodia, living with a home-stay family, learning the language, working for a local non-profit (which will be determined when she arrives), and absorbing the culture of a land far from home.

 

“I want to go on an adventure,” she said. “I’m a very curious person, and I want to learn as much as I can while also having a positive impact on a community that’s different from my own.”

 

See a pattern here of savoring each experience, the degree of difficulty notwithstanding, learning from it, and then passing the baton, not just literally as a relay runner but figuratively as a servant leader?

 

“I feel really lucky that I got to have the time with (the next generation of Collegiate distance runners],” she said. “I’m so incredibly proud of them. I hope that if I’ve had any impact, it’s just being able to be a role model and showing them how special this team is and it’s never about the individual. It’s about how we can create something together, how when you finish the race, you cheer on your teammates, and how you always run for your team.”

~Weldon Bradshaw