Editor’s note: This is a regular feature profiling senior athletes at Bryant High School.
Lauren Ackley
NAME: Lauren Ackley
PARENTS: Lisa Ackley and Richard Ackley
SIBLINGS: Ben, Josh, Andrew, Michael, Stuart, John, Rusty and Angie.
FAVORITE SUBJECT IN SCHOOL: Anatomy
WHAT DO YOU LIKE TO DO IN YOUR SPARE TIME? I work at Chick-fil-A a lot. I like to run, play piano and I’m really involved in my church group.
FAVORITE FOOD: Peanut butter
FAVORITE MUSIC ARTIST OR GROUP: Cage the Elephant
FAVORITE MOVIE: Finding Nemo
FAVORITE TV SHOW: America’s Next Top Model
WHAT WAS YOUR FAVORITE TOY AS A KID? I had this little cat named Alley-Oop and I took it around everywhere.
WHAT ARE YOUR PLANS AFTER HIGH SCHOOL? I plan to attend UALR and possibly run for the cross country team. I’m not sure yet. Then maybe major in Biology.
OTHER THAN YOUR PARENTS, WHO HAS HAD THE BIGGEST INFLUENCE ON YOUR LIFE? My brother Ben because he’s been a great influence. He’s done everything successfully so I just want to be like him.
FAVORITE THING ABOUT CROSS COUNTRY: The contact with the other girls and our great bond with everyone, to just be able to get along and support each other.
WHAT’S YOUR APPROACH TO A RACE? I make sure I get enough sleep, which doesn’t happen all the time then I always eat one banana and I have a playlist I listen to before each race.
WHAT DO YOU THINK OF THE SEASON? We’ve done really good. Our top five, six, seven girls have all stayed together and we’ve all trained really, really hard. We’ve had a great season so far, undefeated.
WHAT’S BEEN THE HIGHLIGHT TO THE SEASON? Being undefeated.
WHAT’S IT GOING TO TAKE FOR THE TEAM TO BE SUCCESSFUL AT CONFERENCE AND STATE MEETS? Just stay focused on winning conference for one and not getting distracted by anything, just working hard every single day in practice.
AFTER YOU’RE THROUGH RUNNING CROSS COUNTRY AT BHS, WHAT DO YOU THINK YOU’LL REMEMBER MOST FONDLY ABOUT IT? Mostly the girls and how I’ve met so many good people from it and the friendship still remains with everyone.
