By Derrick Smith

Motivation is a key to the success of almost everyone. It helps keep you on pace and working hard. Athletes use motivation to make themselves practice harder and to work to become the best that they can be. Yukon’s Avery Stanley has something that motivates her, and it has helped her get to where she is today.

“The sense of accomplishment is what motivates me,” she said. “Whenever you reach the goal you wanted or the time you’ve been trying to achieve, there is no better feeling than knowing you put all the hard work in and now it is finally showing in your performances. The small victories that you get to celebrate are what makes sports so memorable.”

Stanley is a senior and competes in cross country, soccer, and track for the Millers. Though she enjoys competing in her sports, she said that the balance is not always the easiest.

“In order to compete in three different sports at the high school level, it has taken a lot of self-discipline, passion, and motivation to be the most successful that I can be. Each day I find time to do something that I know will help me to continue to progress to the next level.”

The hard work that she has put in over her career has begun to pay off and the proof is the progress in her competitions.

“I was fortunate enough my freshman year to qualify for the state meet but found myself overwhelmed and finished eighty-seventh out of 110 runners. In my sophomore year, I made it a goal to improve at the next state meet and was able to finish in tenth place making all-state cross country. This was a marked improvement from the previous year and demonstrated that my hard work was paying off.”

Along with competing in her sports, Avery also helps out other students throughout the Yukon school district.

“I am a member of the National Honor Society and the Fellowship of Christian Athletes,” she said. “But this year I also got involved with my school’s Teach Oklahoma program, where I am able to mentor and help shape students in the Yukon School System.”