Easley High School junior Acie Vincent leads the cross country girls team this season as a captain. Vincent is also one of the top-ranked runners in the state of South Carolina.
Jeff Holt | The Easley Progress
EASLEY — You’ve heard that saying: “Attitude is everything.”
Acie Vincent has that type of winning attitude to the Easley High School cross country team.
She’s only a junior, but she’s more like a hungry senior on the team with a bright future ahead of her.
“I love school. I love to learn and I love to run,” said the 16-year-old Vincent at a recent practice. “I would love to run in college. I want to keep my grades up and be the best version of myself. I’d love to make it on my own and make a name for myself through my own hard work.”
Academically, Vincent is No. 8 in her class with a 4.989 GPA on a weighted scale. Her favorite classes at EHS are an AP Art Class and then an AP Lit class where it is “focused entirely” on reading.
So, she is right on track to run in college.
“Originally, I was like let’s go far away from home (to college) as possible,” said Vincent. “Then, I recently went on a mission trip with my church and we were away from home for quite awhile. I realized that the people here and the people that built me – I need them around me to make me happy. I probably wouldn’t want to go anymore than two hours (from home) and any size of college. I’m definitely a small-group person, but I also love meeting new people. I don’t really know what I like, so I’m up for anything.”
The highs and lows of running have made her tougher, too, in learning how to get through injuries and bounce back.
Last year during track season, Vincent had a tough decision to make with the one mile and the two mile.
The end result was a state championship.
“I was originally going to compete in the mile and the two mile (at state),” she said. “I won the two mile and was second in the mile – that’s how I was placed to be at state, but I hurt my knee and wasn’t sure if I was going to be able to run at all. I was going through rehab and all the special work. Nothing was getting better.
“I get to the track meet and said there is no way I’m going to be able to run both of these (races). I love the mile, but there was something in me. I’m a very religious person and I believe that God was in me and he was like hey, let’s run the two mile. It was the hardest race of my entire life. It was burning hot and there were a million people there. I had to go to rehab awhile afterwards, but I was able to win (in 11:08) with a hurt knee. It felt pretty good … that was my biggest accomplishment.”
Vincent entered this cross country season at the No. 8 ranked runner in cross country (ranging from Class 1A to 5A).
Green Wave coach Braxton Sheriff said that he’s seen a big change in Vincent the last couple of years, especially when she decided to transition to full-time running after stepping down from volleyball.
“She’s a great athlete, a great student and a great girl,” Sheriff said. “She’s one of our captains for us. She’s starting to grow as a leader and I’m really excited to see what she’ll do this year. She has the opportunity to be one of the top girls in the state.”
Acie is the daughter of Julie and Chris Vincent.
Reach Jeff Holt at 864-855-0355.