What initially started as hesitation quickly turned into love for Audrey Gross. Gross, a senior at Cape Coral High School, is not only in track and cross country for the love of the game, but for peace of mind and a sense of determination.
While Gross’ sports career didn’t start out with running, fate eventually brought her down the right path. Throughout her entire childhood she participated in competitive club travel soccer, moving to Cape High’s junior varsity team her freshman year of high school, but quitting soon after. Her separation from the sport mainly stemmed from a falling out between her and her teammates.
During her freshman year, when the season for cross country and track arrived, Gross insisted on staying away from sports, she was determined to keep her distance.
However, the track and cross country coach at the time, Robert Berkey, reached out with hopes to recruit her to the team because of his close connection with her dad and Cape High teacher Daniel Gross. While she was heavily reluctant at first, Gross inevitably gave in and decided to give running a chance.
“In the beginning it sucked, because running is just you alone with your thoughts,” explained Gross.
In time, that negative quickly turned to a positive as her improved endurance caused to start getting faster and faster, eventually being able to run three miles without stopping. Gross was officially hooked.
“I was accomplishing something difficult by myself, not by luck but by effort.”
Gross’ sister and sophomore at Cape High, Laura Gross added that, “it’s an outlet for her to push herself.”
Ever since then, it’s become a pastime for Gross, even during off-season. Running no longer fogged her mind, but instead cleared it.
Gross continued the sport her sophomore year, improving exponentially. Yet when she reached her junior year, she made the tough decision to discontinue cross country and track because she felt overwhelmed with schoolwork and wanted to focus on her academics.
However, this separation didn’t last long. She got pulled right back into the sports for the 2025-26 season, her senior year.
As she didn’t compete for a whole season, participating this year came with its setbacks. However, with the strength of her team’s dynamic and support from teammates, Gross has excelled.
Cape High senior and teammate of Gross, Brooke Mena, explained that, “she came back this year again and has shown extreme improvement, probably cutting at least 2-3 minutes off her first 5k race at the beginning of the season to now.”
Team dynamic is very crucial to the functionality of cross country and track. Without a good dynamic, the members tend to lack motivation and drive. Gross and her teammates reach out to each other year round to go out for runs and keep others in check when they’re slacking.
Gross explained, “We pay attention to whether or not our teammates are putting their best effort into workouts and encourage them to lock in if necessary.”
That relationship between Gross and her teammates is crucial for her as it’s one of the main things that keeps her motivated to run, even when she feels her worst.
Gross finds another one of the many reasons that she’s so hooked on running is the drive for a sense of improvement.
She explained that when she used to play soccer, “it was always difficult to tell whether or not you were improving because you were in a team setting, having to rely on everyone else to win the game.”
Once she switched to her current sports, she was able to properly track progress by looking at her times from previous races. That sense of straightforwardness and individual progress motivates her to keep going strong.
“I remember my freshmen year, the best time I ever got was around 25 minutes for the 5k, and this year my best time so far is 22:25 for the same event,” Gross recalled.
While Gross’ team strongly motivates her to keep pushing, they see Gross in that same bright light as well. Despite her demotivation at times, Gross shows up to practice at five in the morning radiating good energy, keeping her team going. From her positivity to her motivation to her extreme talent, Gross is crucial for her team’s overall dynamic.
Mena expressed, “she’s one of the few people that I have nothing bad to say about.” Mena continued describing Gross, saying that “she’s such a sweet and caring person that I love being able to see her every morning and run with her.”
Gross’ hard work and dedication have been paying off as earlier this year she individually qualified for regionals. Also this year, Gross got top 20 in districts with a PR time. Laura explained that she is, “an extremely determined and motivated person and runner. She has grown so much through running.”
While Gross’ sports career doesn’t directly tie into her post-highschool plans, they’ve heavily changed her life. Gross plans to go to Florida Atlantic University and pursue a degree in social work. She feels that running has made a great impact on her mental health, and as many social workers are in mental health positions, she feels prepared.
However, this doesn’t mean Gross’ days of running will come to an end. She expressed, “I do foresee myself running for as long as I am able, but really just for fun. I’m interested in pursuing some longer events like marathons in the future though.”
Running has all in all made a worthwhile impact on Gross’ life forever. Laura communicated that through Gross’ running, “she continues to improve as both an athlete and person.”
Through something she initially hated, Gross has become someone with a reputation of being intensely determined and making her teammates feel warm and motivated. And rather more importantly, she found an outlet for herself to escape and clear her mind, setting herself up for future success.
