Addison Weber, a senior at West Morris Central High School and cross country and fencing athlete, has been named NJSIAA Female Athlete of the Year. She has won 60 fencing matches in her high school career, and has won against Hackettstown High School and Kinnelon High School this season. Additionally, Addison ran 1600 Meters and had a time of 5:43.05, which is exceptional. She also ran a time of 12:00.48 for the 3200 Meter run. She has proved strength, resilience, and leadership in her years as a West Morris Central High School Athlete.
Surprisingly, Weber was not always into sports. “I’ve always been an active kid, but I’ve never been this athletic, so I really only started my athletic career in freshman year”. Weber also stated, “This means a lot to me, seeing how far I’ve come and how much progress I’ve grown with sports.” Weber wants to prove to people that anyone can start a sport at any time and become successful with it.
Weber knows that balancing school, sports, and other outside activities and responsibilities can be hard, but she works on balancing everything. “Normally practice is right after school, so that’s fine, and it ends at like, five. So then I have a couple hours to do homework” Weber stated. She also uses her IRT, which is her free period, to complete a lot of her homework.
In any sport, there will always be challenges and hardships that athletes face and have to overcome whether they are physical, or mental. Weber has had challenges that she has had to overcome in her time as an athlete. “My sophomore, or my freshman year, end of track season, I ended up fracturing my growth plate, so I was out for six to eight months. That was probably my biggest challenge.” Weber proved that it is possible to recover from such a serious injury, and come back and keep working hard and succeeding in sports.
Staying motivated during sports seasons can be tough as well, especially if the season is not going the way that it was intended to. However, Weber maintains a positive mindset no matter what. “I just keep telling myself no matter how tough it gets, this is only going to push me to be a better athlete, and it’s going to help me progress and help me grow.”
The resilience, strength, and motivation that Addison has put towards her sports has not only given her the title of NJSIAA Female Athlete of the Year, but it has given her an offer to run Cross Country and Track and Field for Slippery Rock University in Pennsylvania.“I’m going to go to Slippery Rock University and I’m going to study psychology, and I also signed to their running team, cross country and track” Weber stated.
Through her hardships and challenges, Addison Weber has shown her fans that they can do anything that they put their mind to. She has helped others achieve their goals and has achieved her own as well, rightfully earning her the NJSIAA Female Athlete of the Year Award.
