Cross Country, Track
Favorite athlete: Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone
Favorite team: Philadelphia Eagles
Favorite memory competing in sports: Spending time with my team during our cross-country camping trip every summer
Most embarrassing/funniest thing that has happened while competing in sports: When I got sick during an indoor track race sophomore year and my coach told the entire team about it.
Music on Playlist: Rihanna and Kid Cudi
Future plans: To attend a 4-year college to major in actuarial science and continue running, either competitively or for a club team
Words to live by: “Live in the moment.”
One goal before turning 30: Complete a marathon
One thing people don’t know about me: I love to travel and have been Europe three times
By GORDON GLANTZ
Live in the moment.
For the likes of year-round distance runner Alexis Cawley, a senior at William Tennent, it’s not just advice found inside a fortune cookie or an inspirational greeting card.
She lives in a world where not just every minute, but every second, counts.
And while distance running is about endurance, the hopeful future marathon runner realizes that her high school career in Warminster is still more like a sprint.
“Definitely, a lot,” she said. “I remember last cross country season thinking to myself, ‘Oh, my gosh, I’m a senior. I’m graduating. It’s my last season.’ I was just so upset about it.
“I had to remind myself that I had to just go into it and have fun, spend time with my friends and just be grateful for being able to run with my friends one last time, instead of on it being the last time.”
The Next Lap
Aside from excelling in her athletic pursuits, Cawley ranks fourth in the senior class for which she also serves as president.
A math whiz who plans to study actuarial science, she has made it as far as districts in cross country and the league meet in outdoor track and plans to continue running in college.
If Cawley attends Elizabethtown, she will run for the school. If the choice is St. Joseph’s University in Philadelphia, she will likely go the club route.
“I’m kind of in between right now,” she said. “I don’t know how I’m going to feel about it when I get there. I kind of like the team atmosphere that I have (at Tennent). I don’t know if a more relaxed team is going to be better for me or not.”
Nicole Rich, Tennent’s coach for all seasons, knows better than to interfere with the difficult decision.
“It’s for her,” said Rich. “I will always push them to do a little more. I have high expectations for all my kids, because I know how good they can be.
“So, you know, I always try to say, ‘This will be great, but I’m 100 percent behind you if it’s not your thing. It’s their life to live.”
Carving out a Path
Running was not an initial pursuit for the 4.05 GPA student, but it became one during her freshman year.
“Back in middle school, I did softball and volleyball,” said Cawley. “Freshman year, in the fall season, I did volleyball. I didn’t do cross country, but I was a practice player (in volleyball) and didn’t get any playing time.”
She then tried outdoor track that spring, and that was that.
“I have been running ever since then,” said Cawley, who then picked up cross country and indoor track the following year.
Looking at what remains, Cawley is just looking to push herself to her own limits.
“In my junior season, I didn’t PR at all,” she said. “It was a little bit of a letdown. I just want to improve myself and be better than I was before.”
Cawley does not see herself as quite prepared for the 26.2 miles of a marathon, as the furthest she has gone is 8 miles, but she has done 5Ks for Tennent and is eyeing the annual 10-mile Broad Street run held the first Sunday in May in Philadelphia annually.
“I definitely think I would have to train for it, but I think I could complete a half-marathon right now,” said Cawley. “I don’t think I have the endurance quite yet to complete a full marathon.”
Lasting Impression
Rich has coached Cawley all four seasons and it has been her pleasure.
“She has to be one of the brightest kids, and most motivated and determined kids, that I’ve ever had,” said Rich. “She is a star to me, just because of how much work she puts in.
“She’s always in the trainer’s room, getting done what she needs to get done. We’ve had conversations about plans with her. She is just so dedicated and so invested, and you don’t always get a lot of that.”
While Cawley has been frustrated with the peaks and valleys of chasing personal bests and not always meeting her own standards, Rich can’t say enough about the incremental improvements she has made.
“She was a little upset the last meet,” said Rich. “She was going for something, but that comes from putting that extra little bit of extra pressure on yourself. I was an athlete myself, so I understand. Sometimes, when we think too much, we forget just to race.
“But, really, she has had one heck of a senior season. She has flourished so much from her previous years, just with her self-esteem, and her confidence has gone through the roof. Her cross country season went very well. She pours out so much confidence anymore, and it’s so good to see.
“She improved constantly during cross country and even during her indoor season. I cannot wait to see what Alexis does outdoor in the spring.”
Rich added that Cawley’s work habits and study habits set a standard for the rest of the team.
“Oh, absolutely – 100 percent,” said Rich. “She has come to me a lot about taking the girls on easy runs and taking girls under her wing.
“A lot of the girls need to get through some things, and not just in the sports aspect of it. Alexis - she is smart. She is both common sense smart and book smart, which is a rarity.
“And when she puts in the work, everyone else sees it and says, ‘OK, if she is going to go hard, I’m going to go hard.’ And, it shows. It definitely shows.”
Next year, Rich will look up and not see the ideal student-athlete that Cawley has become.
“It’ll be hard,” she said. “But, because of the work ethic that she has instilled in a lot of the other girls, it will be OK.
“I will definitely miss our conversations. I will definitely miss that. A lot of the times, it’s really just track stuff. She always wants to get better. She is looking about what to do next, and getting there.
“Academically, the girl is set. That’s why she is able to put so much effort into it.”
Pursuing Passions
Cawley, who has been to London twice and Ireland, enjoys traveling and listening to R&B/pop music.
She has relished time with her cross country teammates on camping trips every August where they bond and go on runs.
“We have been all over,” Cawley said. “We went to Jim Thorpe. Last summer, we went to Gettysburg. Last summer, we were in a cabin but we have also been in tents. It’s kind of different.
“We do run when we’re there. It’s part of our summer training. We’ll go to a park at like 8 a.m. and go on some runs together.”
She is also passionate about being a citizen at school.
Example: Senior superlatives were recently announced for the Class of 2026, and it was no shock that Cawley was named “Always at Tennent” for, pretty much, being a fixture.
“With all my activities, I’m always at school,” she said with a chuckle.
In addition to being class president, she is co-president of the National Honor Society and a member of the National Math Honor Society, for which she also tutors other students.
Being president of the class is far more than just some honorary title for a college application.
“As student government president, I lead the meetings and then I have meetings with the principal,” said Cawley. “Any issues that I have been hearing about, I bring to him and we brainstorm on how to fix things.
“Also, I’ll go to the monthly school board meetings. I’ll give the members of the school board a student report, which is an update on any current events going on within the school and within the district.”
And, when it comes to academics, Cawley’s nose is to the grindstone.
“I’m in AP classes,” she said. “We have math lab, where we can go for help, so I’m definitely in there a lot.
“So, in addition to my athletic training, I spend a lot of time studying and reviewing and getting help, too.”
Finding a Balance
With “no time like the present” as her North Star, making time for it all it vital.
“Honestly, it’s like running has become my sole hobby,” said Cawley. “I come home from practice and I immediately have to study. It’s definitely a balance.”
With all that’s involved, Cawley has learned the importance of personal responsibility.
“Even though running takes up a lot of time, it has made me want to also take time to take care of myself,” she said. “That means eating properly and sleeping better, because you race better when you train better.
“I definitely think it’s about learning how to balance it all and to not procrastinate.”
In practical terms, that manifests in time management.
“Even on drives home on the bus from meets, I’ll be working on my homework,” said Cawley. “It’s about taking advantage of whatever little breaks you have to be productive.”
Feeling the Love
Although running is solitary sport, Cawley is grateful for all the love and support she has received along the way.
“Gosh, there are a lot of people,” she said. “There is the athletic trainer at our school (Joslin Poole). We talk almost daily. I tell her everything.”
Cawley also mentioned Jim Michaels, her first coach at Tennent.
“He was definitely and big part of me getting into running,” she said. “He was my coach when I first joined. He was a great guy to talk to, just super knowledgeable.
“And my current coaches, they have definitely been a lot of help, just with the training and the mental aspect of running. I talk to them a lot about what I can do to improve after each race, whether it’s what I did well and what I can work on.”
At the top of her list is her father, Kevin Cawley.
“Athletically and academically, just all of it -- from driving me to and from practice,” Cawley said. “He will show up to my outdoor races. He makes sure to pack extra food for me when he knows that I have a meet.
“He is always there for me.”
