Congrats to the 2025 BSWD scholarship recipients!
Each year, the Big Sky Wind Drinkers present scholarships to deserving local high school students. The 2025 scholarship process wrapped up with strong participation, thanks in part to the board’s decision to increase the award amount to $1,500 per student. We received 11 applications from students across seven schools in Gallatin Valley. This year’s committee—Kristin Harbuck, Patrick Hatfield and Mark Genito—selected three outstanding recipients:
- Ella Miller, Manhattan High School
- Hadley Jones, Manhattan High School
- Isabella “Bella” Jones, Three Forks High School
Patrick Hatfield presented certificates to the recipients in person, including at the Manhattan High School awards assembly. Below are each recipient’s essay and photo, published with permission.
Ella Miller – What Running Means to Me
As my legs hit the ground in a steady rhythm, my breathing lines up with each step. The music in my airpods cancels out any other sounds, and my lungs are filled with fresh, clean air. Sunlight hits my back as the mountains pierce the horizon of the bright blue sky. Air flows into my body, and I feel as if I can finally take a true deep breath. My mind goes quiet as my muscles focus on carrying my body another mile. My brain and my soul are at peace.
The sound of laughter fills my ears as my teammates and I sink into a steady rhythm for our long run. “American Pie” by Don Mclean is on repeat while everyone sings along to the lyrics. We run under the huge trees that shade the entire street to keep cool for just a couple minutes. Travelling as a pack, we cross the street and make our way to the overpass that sits right above the highway. Even when we run in a single file line, you can still hear faint singing, laughter, and chatter. Once we get to the back roads, our group slowly widens. We take turns being in front, and the conversations never seem to end. The run ends with just as much energy as we started with, and the laughter carries into the stretch circle afterwards.
My quads start to feel heavy as I push myself to run up yet another hill. I only have one mile left. My eyes point ahead, just angled enough to see my target running a couple steps ahead of me. I relax my shoulders, gain control of my breathing, and slowly start to speed up the cadence of my steps. My mind is completely at peace, and I am focusing only on crossing the finish line. As I gain ground on my target, my body starts to feel light. In the last 400, I run past her and keep pushing. My strong legs pound into the ground and carry my body effortlessly. The lactic acid begins, but I pump my arms to ignore the pain. I sprint across the finish line and relief rushes over me, a feeling only a PR can bring.
Above, I gave three examples of times I have felt my true love for running: running alone, running with my teammates, and racing my heart out. Running is both an art and a sport. This art has helped me find peace in my own head in multiple ways. When I am running, my mind finally has a place to truly relax. Whether I am on my own, with my teammates, or even racing, I now find peace inside my head in a way I never had before. This sport has also introduced me to some of the most important people in my life. My coach and my teammates are my family, and running with them has shown me what teamwork should truly feel like. Yes, winning state championships with my teammates is an unbeatable feeling, but it was the love and hard work from my best friends that made the trophies so meaningful. My coach has shown us endless love and support, and it shows in my race performances. When you switch the mindset of running to an opportunity rather than a chore, it opens your mind in the most positive way. This sport is not about winning, it is about pushing yourself to the point where you feel accomplished. Running has taught me it is okay to be uncomfortable while I am racing because I know I can push my limits both physically and mentally. Running means loving your body, cherishing your team, and finding peace inside your own mind.
Bella Jones – What Running Means to Me
Sometimes it is easier to understand what something means to you once it is taken away. I discovered this when I tore my ACL playing basketball this past season. As I entered the spring track season, I found myself reflecting on the time I participated in running and the growth it has provided me with. Running, to me, has taught me discipline, grit, and commitment. It’s also been an escape– a way to disconnect from life’s pressures.
From as far back as I can remember, my mom has been a dedicated runner. Every morning, she would get up and head off on a run, starting small and eventually working her way up to completing the Chicago Marathon. I remember supporting her in her training from making a smoothie for her as she got home, to biking ten miles to her to give her water. My mom was my first inspiration to start running, and every time I had the chance to run a 5k with her I eagerly took it. By sixth grade, I decided to take running seriously and joined cross country and track. Little did I know the impact these sports would have on my life.
Running has become my outlet when times are hard; a way to move my body when I am overwhelmed. I have always been the type to stress over school, especially my grades, but going to practice after school gave me a break from it all. Each time I begin a run I feel like a weight is lifted off my shoulders. For those moments, I can focus on my breathing, pace, and rhythm of my footsteps as I run along feeling like any doubt is being left behind. The relief has not only given me a physical escape but also helped me to build mental resilience.
Over time, I have noticed a stronger ability to manage stress because of the mental discipline I have developed from running. Through every tough workout and every race, I learned how to stay mentally tough even when faced with the overwhelming challenges
involved. There’s nothing quite like trying to stay mentally in a race when your body wants to quit. But that is where hard work and resilience come in. Pushing through those moments– when every part of you is screaming to stop– has taught me the value of hard work and perseverance. It’s in those times that I’ve learned to dig deep, remind myself why I started, and keep going. That determination to keep pushing forward, even when things get hard, is most important to me and I have learned to apply it to everyday life.
Overall, running has taught me lessons in life that nothing else ever could. Although there has been a bump in my road, I will always cherish my middle school and high school years in track and cross country. Without the journey of running, I would not have the tools to understand my ability to persevere through a tough time mentally and physically. The challenges I’ve faced– on the track, course, and life– have given me the resilience to keep moving forward. As I look forward, I am excited to get back to running and continue pushing myself, taking my growth further than before.
Hadley Jones – What Running Means to Me
Being a multi sport athlete, I have competed on many teams. On most teams and in most sports you heavily rely on others to win or to find success. Racing on the other hand is very individual and self driven. I love running because it gives me a time to mentally escape from the stresses of high school, it is truly a form of freedom, it challenges me personally, and it allows me to meet and make new friends and connections.
When it comes to school, homework, grades, and other pressures from high school I tend to stress a lot and worry myself to a point where I cry a lot. I love high school and most everything about it but it stresses me out a lot, especially all the “senior things” you have to figure out before you graduate. Running has given me a healthy outlet for this stress. During all sports seasons I am in, if I stress myself out too much I know to take a deep breath and go for a run. Even if the run is a short fifteen minutes, that gives my brain enough time to slow down. While I am running I try to listen to my breathing and slow my heart rate down. Listening to my feet hitting the gravel or pavement in a rhythmic beating also helps slow my mind. Taking these runs no matter the length of time or distance I go, always slows my mind and re-centers me so I am ready to go back to what I was doing before freeing my mind of all the stress.
Running never was a challenge before high school. In middle school I would run for fun all the time, and at middle school track meets I thought I was super fast! Then I got to high school and everything changed. I wasn’t racing against middle schoolers anymore, but sometimes kids four years older than me. I realised I was going to have to put in a lot more work and effort if I wanted to be competitive. The workouts we did were much longer and harder than I had ever done before, I told myself I would train hard and do the best I could. My freshman year I was the alternate for our 4×400 meter relay at state and even though I did not get to run, I still felt a sense of accomplishment with my season. Even now, as a senior, some days I don’t feel like working out but I know I have to push through and continue running if I want to succeed. It takes a lot of mental toughness to power through the last rep of a workout when you are dog tired and your legs are jelly. But, I could not honestly tell you a better feeling than after you have finished a hard workout or race and you gave it your all.
Running has allowed me to meet so many wonderful people I never would have before. Indoor track and high school track have opened so many doors that I never would have had opened before. I have amazing coaches who I know have my back in any situation, and life long running buddies. When you find people who love running as much as you do, you truly have lifelong friends.
Throughout my life running has impacted me in many ways. It has given me an outlet to cope with stress, a way to challenge myself, and I have met so many wonderful people. What does running mean to me? Running means escaping the world for a short while with your best friends doing what you love.
