MILLERSVILLE, Pa. - Power up and down hills with strides constantly landing on uneven terrain, then wind down a dirt path while navigating through packs of competitors trying to out-race you before an all-out sprint across a seemingly never-ending straightaway to the finish line. Do all that while running as fast as you can for six kilometers. The quads burn, calves tighten, feet ache, and lungs frantically try to pull in the oxygen your exhausted body needs. To run cross country is to know pain.
 
Pain is an alarm--stop doing what you are doing. Pain is the great deterrent.
 
Hannah Sweda knows this. So, when pain tells her to slow down, when pain tells her not to aggressively attack a hill, when pain tells her that she doesn't have enough energy left for a big kick in the last 100 meters, Sweda remembers her why.
 
The why is everything. The why is the motivation to run faster when the body is begging her to slow down. The why is the reason she put life on hold after graduating in May. The why convinced Sweda to endure one more summer of exhaustive training and the pain that comes with it. The why brought her back to the Millersville cross country team for what she hopes is eight more races with her teammates, together, achieving something special.
 
There was nothing selfish about Sweda's decision to run for Millersville in 2024. She had already accomplished more than she ever thought she would as a collegiate runner, earning All-PSAC honors at the 2023 PSAC Championships and taking 10^th in the 10K at the 2024 PSAC Outdoor Track & Field Championships. But when her cross country team jumped seven spots in the standings at the PSAC Championships and eight spots up the leaderboard at the NCAA Regional, Sweda and her teammates suddenly realized that becoming the first Millersville team since 1999 to qualify for nationals wasn't unrealistic. It was a goal within reach. They needed to chase down just three more teams. Maybe, together, they could make history.
 
"Now that we know that top five is in our reach, NCAAs is in the picture," said Sweda. "I know how much it means to everyone else—not just me. Even if I'm not feeling great at PSACs or regionals, you remind yourself that it isn't about me. You don't want to let anyone down…I came back because of what I think this team can do. I want to go to NCAAs with my team. I believe we can do it. We aren't far off. Everyone has worked so hard. It's been 25 years. But I look at the team around me and I know we can do it."
 
That's the why. Sweda runs doesn't run for herself. She can't run for herself. She's a servant at heart, not motivated by individual success. Since graduating high school, she's eyed the opportunity to serve overseas with Youth With a Mission. Originally planned for the summer after graduation, she now embarks on that five-month mission trip in January. She said, "It's something I've been called to do," and that calling is on hold so she can be a cross country teammate for one more semester.
 
"I'm blessed enough to have the gift to run," said Sweda. "I run for God. I'm a very spiritual person. I'm hoping that my story shows God throughout it. When I'm running and having a hard time, I remember why I'm doing it. I'm not doing it for me. I'm doing it for my teammates, especially for my teammates. This year, we want to do well. It's easier to put yourself through pain for others. If you are running for yourself, it's too easy to quit."
 
 
Sweda's attitude is inspirational. Morgan Janiuk, the team's top runner the last three seasons, also returned for once last run at something special. There are seven seniors and five juniors on the team, and the majority of the upperclassmen stayed close to campus over the summer, working together as waitresses at a golf club, living together, and training together.
 
"We have a big group of seniors, and they were really happy that both Hannah and (Morgan) came back," said Millersville head coach Andy Young. "The fact that one of them decided helped the other decide. Our seniors put their stamp on the team early. They reached out to their teammates and said, 'We really think we can be good this year. We want you to train hard and live a clean lifestyle.' It was definitely driven by all the seniors, but having Hannah and Morgan back drove that home."
 
Sweda, a four-time PSAC Scholar-Athlete and USTFCCCA All-Academic honoree, already had her bachelor's degree so she enrolled in the emergency management master's degree program. She admits that the classes are a means to compete right now. After the season, following her mission work, she hopes to join the state police force as a K-9 officer or work with juveniles, saying, "I just want to help people." Maybe she'll finish that master's degree someday. But right now, from August through November, her focus is only on cross country and the why.
 
"I want to see what happens and not be left with the 'what if,'" said Sweda. "I just wanted to be with this team again."
 
That Sweda is such an integral part of a strong team is a testament to her all-in work ethic and dogged determination. She always viewed herself as a soccer player first. She could run, but as a high school athlete across the street at Penn Manor, she wasn't exactly dominating the local cross country or track league. She was also one of those unfortunate COVID seniors, who finished their high school careers without a spring track season, separated from their classmates in online classes and without an in-person graduation. Sweda was not heavily recruited. She just wanted to find a school that would let her compete.
 
"We didn't talk a lot," laughed Young about the recruiting process. "I thought she was going to a different school to play soccer. She was wishy-washy on running. She had some success in cross country and track early on in her career, so there was some potential there, but I had to figure out if she was even serious about wanting to be on the team. It just became, 'If you want to come, come.'"
 
In 2020, Young was trying to reinvigorate cross country program. He had already turned the track and field team into a PSAC contender, but cross country lagged. He had just 14 runners on the roster, and the team had finished no better than 12^th in the PSAC for eight years running. He needed to create depth and competition. Young simply needed runners--anyone willing to put themselves through a 6K race every week.  
 
Sweda may have been a soccer player, but she was willing to work. Her father, Shawn, works at Millersville as a police officer, so, as Sweda said, "The price was right."
 
 
"If she puts her mind to it she's going to do it," said Young. "You can see it in her classes. She has a very high GPA. We saw it right away with running. Everything we asked her to do she did it. We really saw it going into her sophomore year. I gave all the runners a summer training plan, and she did everything, no matter what, she did it. You want to say that all of your athletes do that, but every sport has that issue in the off-season. They'll do 80 or 90%. Not Hannah. She's 100% all the way.
 
Sweda finished 134^th at her first PSAC Championship meet. The next season, she moved up to 95^th. She placed 91^st as the No. 6 runner for a 13^th-place team finish in 2022. Then, last fall, Sweda made stunning gains. Sweda had battled numerous illnesses during the season and had been frustrated with her meet results. At the championship meet, she said, "I didn't think, I just ran." Young had seen the upward trend, but a 23^rd-place finish at the PSAC Championships was a stunner.
 
"That was crazy," said Sweda. "I didn't realize what was happening. The previous year I was nowhere close. It wasn't even in the picture. When I realized what I did, 'Oh my goodness.' Even now I can't believe it. That was a big breakthrough race."
 
"I knew she was getting better," said Young. "Her practices were getting better. She's a slow developer every season. Always at the beginning, she is in the back and struggling. As the season goes along you see her strength taking over. I thought she would do OK. I thought top 30 was possible, but that was a big jump."
 
Two weeks later, Sweda ran a 22:37.3 in the NCAA Regional—the 10^th fastest time in program history. Those results, a product of perseverance in training, provided confidence. She wasn't a soccer player trying out cross country anymore. She was a runner pulling her team into contention. Those big-race performances determined her future. They were a glimpse of what could be with one more year of training.
 
"It's been cool to see how much I have improved," said Sweda. "Sometimes it just takes time."
 
But time is quickly ticking away at Sweda's collegiate career. Each stride of each practice and each meet is one fewer that she'll get to run with the teammates who mean so much to her. Sure, there is pain in those strides, but there is a purpose, and because of that purpose, the pain is cherished. Experience tells Sweda to run hard, run fast, run together, run for each other, and run for your why. Then, the incredible can be achieved.
 
"I know why I run," said Sweda. "I have a great support system and a great coach. You have to hold on to your why and trust in the people around you."