Megan Raue has seen great success throughout her running career. She attributes much of her success to working hard with her team and pushing each other to greater levels.
Raue began running early in her childhood, participating in neighborhood races and many Thanksgiving runs. Raue’s first experience with cross country was back in middle school when she was a part of the North Bethesda track team.
“I didn’t really start taking running seriously until later when I started high school,” Raue said.
When entering her first year of high school, Raue joined the junior varsity field hockey team as the goalie. She joined the team with her friends and found her place as a goalie, working hard as a part of the team.
“I liked field hockey because I didn’t have to run up hills and it was fun to do,” Raue said. “[It was] something new and [I could] hang out with my friends at the same time. It also prevented me from burning out and losing motivation.
As the winter season began in 2021, Raue joined the WJ track and field team, starting her career running long distances. She worked hard and came into lots of success very quickly, becoming an alternate for the top 4×800 meter relay team her freshman year. She continued on the track team through the spring and continued to work hard to get faster.
“I ran over the summer, stayed consistent, focused on thinking positively before races, and tried harder in workouts,” Raue said.
Raue continued field hockey entering her sophomore year, as she was pulled up to play on varsity as the goalie.
“I don’t regret not doing cross country [during fall] my sophomore year because field hockey was fun and I was still doing track during the winter and spring,” Raue said
At the end of fall 2022, she entered the winter track season looking for another year of success. She continued to grow and work her way up; in her sophomore year, she even gained an official spot on the top 4×800, moving up from alternate. Not only did she triumph on the relay, but she also did exceptional in her events of the 400 meter, 800 meter, 1600 meter and sometimes even the 3200 meter.
“Being on the relay and going to Nationals as an underclassman was super fun and it pushed me to be a better runner because I felt like I was running for the team, not just myself,” Raue said.
Raue has lots of running experience under her belt, and so, when she finally joined WJ cross country her junior year, she reached massive accomplishments. She ran alongside her sister, Mackenzie Raue, who also had many successes in her time running at WJ.
“I love to run with Megan and I was glad she joined cross country too,” Mackenzie Raue said. “It’s fun to run with her and we push each other to work harder.”
Raue began to lead the pack and gained many personal bests during the season. Since joining cross country and track, she has worked hard every day training to get faster and help her team. She works hard to help her team and contribute what she can, adding to the hard work of her teammates.
“Megan motivates the team to always try our best during races and always take the extra step of cooling down after,” junior Lily Bienfang said. “She contributes to the team because she is incredibly fast but also super kind and funny. She makes everyone feel welcome.”
As she enters her senior year of high school, she has begun to search for where her running will take her next year. Raue is speaking to and visiting many schools to figure out where she will go to continue her cross-country career.
“Going through the recruitment process has been very stressful but is making me excited to see where I am going to end up,” Raue said.
Raue is running extra hard this season in order to finish her final year on WJ cross-country strong. She is looking to have fun this season and keep getting faster; she plans to continue running past this season and after her high school career.
