Hannah Young, a sprinter for the Bishop’s track team, leads a life of service — often, it seems — from the front, as she served as a captain in track and co-president with classmate Charlie Mossy of the Fellowship of Christian Athletes campus.
Somehow, with all her commitments, which include a full academic load besides her extra-curricular sports and club involvement, the 18-year-old senior has been available as an encourager and even prayer partner for classmates in need.
“We act as a resource for Christian students on campus,” Young says of her FCA role. “Just to answer questions. To pray for students who come to us.”
Young, a 5-foot, 5-inch tall athlete born on Jan. 1, 2001, pursued gymnastics for eight years before high school. She began running track for the Knights as a sophomore and has been to the San Diego Section finals all three years since.
A proud accomplishment was running the third leg of the girls 4×100 relay for the school record at CIF — twice.
Her compatriots in speed are Maddie Lyons (starter), Maddy Cramer (second leg), and Christie Linnard (anchor).
“At the CIF prelims [at Mt. Carmel High], we ran the four-by-one in the pouring rain [during the morning session, when the girls’ events were scheduled] and we set our school record,” laughs Young at the wet recollection. “We beat the old record by .01 of a second [with a time of 50.76 seconds].
“The next Saturday, at the finals, we beat the school record by even more [with a time of 50.46].”
Meanwhile, she has seen a period of spiritual testing in going through a “bad college application experience” of being rejected by multiple colleges she applied to. “No one really knew what was going on,” she says, still processing. “My school counselor said he didn’t get it.
“The way I think of [my faith], I don’t know what I would do if I weren’t a Christian. I have to work really hard to get good grades. A key verse for me is Jeremiah 29:11, which says, ‘I know the plans I have for you…’
“In the rejections, I think God was kind of testing me,” Young continues, “that I don’t need [a glamorous college to feel good about myself]. We’re taught that our identity is in Christ. We have worth no matter if we mess up.
“That night [after I prayed and released some of this], I got an email from USC.” She will matriculate as a Trojan next spring. A way she says she has been used by Christ is to “form a prayer circle on our track team. If you’re not a Christian, just maybe take time to take a breath. It’s not to accept Christ or anything. But think about maybe there is something bigger than us who can be there for us.”
Says Young, “So our little prayer circles before a race have been good for us to shed stress.”