Rosehill Christian April 2024

Cover Story

\\ By Matthew Ogle FREEMAN’S RECOVERY WILL REIGNITE ROSEHILL CHRISTIAN TO STATE CONTENTION RUN IT BACK

DESPITE THEIR RELATIVELY SMALL CLASS-SIZES, IT’S NO SECRET WHO ROSEHILL CHRISTIAN’S “IT-GIRL” IS. Whether she’s lighting up the scoreboard on the basketball court or re-writing the record books on the track, Mercy Freeman has helped to establish RCS as a brand on the TAPPS-3A scene. Considering all the success she has seen, it might come as a shock that Freeman nearly never joined track and field. “In fifth and sixth grade, I actually didn’t have that much of an interest in joining the track team,” she said. “I had just finished with basketball each of those years, so my thought process was, ‘I’m tired of running’. But, Kaleigh (Frazier) kept encouraging me to join, so seventh grade is when I ultimately decided to give it a shot. “Since Kaleigh did hurdles, I figured I could try some events other than sprints as well. Eventually, I fell in love with jumping and the sport itself, and the work that’s needed to consistently improve yourself.” It’s a good thing she was ultimately swayed to join, since she’s been the definitive catalyst towards Rosehill Christian’s two state titles over the past three seasons. But, that’s not the only reason the senior has to appreciate the time she’s

walk, run and jump – which is crazy to think about the little things we do on a daily basis. “The biggest thing for me was getting my strength back and having to work extra hard in order to catch up. Because we were supposed to win last year, I think that we’re all more determined than ever to get back to our State Title form.” They may have their game-face on now, but it should be a safe assessment that Freeman and company will be all smiles in the coming months.

the Eagles would have handily won the TAPPS-3A State Championship for the third-consecutive time in 2023, had it not been for Freeman suffering a high ankle sprain in the opening event. Rest assured, Freeman has been doing her utmost to ensure that Rosehill Christian can flip the script in 2024. “It was definitely hard to come back from that, especially since I wasn’t able to walk initially,” she said. “I had to start from square one – re-learning how to

put in.

“Having played most sports at Rosehill Christian, I feel like track would be my favorite ‘team vibe’ for lack of a better word,” said Freeman. “Everyone is always super close, and after our meets we all go out to eat – whether it be at Canes, Chick-fil-a or Whataburger. At the end of the day, I feel that we’re more of a family, rather than a team.” According to head coach David Saye, Freeman contributes 45 points to the family, on average. Given that insane statistic,

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