KARNS CITY — Ashlyn Hildebrand makes sure before every race she finds enough time to get in a pre-race routine.

The Karns City sophomore doesn't remember if she always was diligent about stretching before races.

What Hildebrand does remember is a year-long battle with shin splints last season.

Hildebrand, who nearly qualified for the PIAA Class AA championships last season, has started doing more stretches and has felt healthier.

Her struggles as a freshman reached a threshold during a meet against A-C Valley.

The pain forced her to stop about halfway through the race.

“I was kind of dehydrated and it was hard for me to run,” Hildebrand said. “I've had shin splints before, but it wasn't that bad.”

Hildebrand wasn't discouraged by being forced to drop out of one race. Cross country is the only sport she ever thought she was good at.

Hildebrand got hooked on the sport when she went to a “fun practice” during the summer at the high school.

“I wasn't going to start then my sister, (Kaila), told me she went to one of the fun practices and told me I should be good,” Hildebrand said. “I really liked it and when you finish a race you feel good about yourself.”

So Hildebrand kept working and nearly had a breakthrough, just missing out on qualifying for states.

Hildebrand finished 11th at the District 9 Class AA championships with a time of 22 minutes, 18.10 seconds.

She came in right behind teammate and fellow sophomore Rebecca Pennington, who finished 10th with a time of 22:17.3.

“She battled that problem all year and she came through,” Karns City coach Colin Gaiser said. “I give her a lot of credit for that when she could have said I'm done.”

Having a big group of teammates who are her age have helped.

In addition to Pennington and her sister, Kaila, the Gremlins also feature sophomores Kaitlyn Fleeger, Olivia Mourer and Isabella Sanner.

“I think it helps because everybody keeps each other motivated and makes it fun,” Ashlyn said. “We just push each other and we're really competitive against each other.”

That competition has already started during the Gremlins' young season.

While Ashlyn beat her sister in most races last season, Kaila came out in front of her in the team's first meet last week.

“Cross country is the only sport I'm good at,” Ashlyn said. “I like to run and it keeps me in shape. I have a lot of fun running.”