Coming out of high school, Fiona Hendry wasn’t sure at which level she wanted to run.

She had looked at Syracuse, a Division I school in a familiar area close to her family and greatly enjoyed the recruiting experience.

Instead, the distance runner opted for something smaller, choosing to attend Haverford, a Division III school in rural Pennsylvania. She garnered All-America honors during the 2012 season and placed third in the 5,000-meter run at the Centennial Conference Championship in outdoor track as a freshman. Looking for stiffer competition, she decided it was time to and transfer. Choosing a new school was simple.

“Syracuse was the first thing that popped into my mind,” Hendry said.

But injuries and anemia derailed the beginning of her SU career. Now, though, Hendry believes the time off has helped her more gradually adjust to the leap up in competition. After struggling with her anemia, health and fitness in her first year and a half, Hendry is looking for consistency, something she’s lacked since she was excelling in Division III.

This is the first season that Hendry has been fully equipped for training, she said, something she grappled with coming from Haverford.

Foot surgery in the summer of 2013 forced Hendry to redshirt what would have been her first cross-country season at her new school. And after participating in the 2013 indoor track season at Syracuse, poor conditioning due to her iron deficiency the following spring left her to declare another redshirt in outdoor track.

“Having another year under my belt really prepared me,” she said. “It’s been a big confidence booster.”

Hendry ran in SU’s top seven or eight throughout most of the season, despite initially finding she was out of shape.

Hendry recalled one race at the beginning of the season in which she struggled to maintain her pace, a result of her nagging anemia — a condition in which the blood doesn’t have enough healthy red blood cells.

“I thought I was in really good shape,” she said, “and I just remember going to the tempo and being in horrible, horrible shape.”

Since her early struggles in the fall, SU cross-country and track head coach Chris Fox has only seen improvement in Hendry. Still, he needs to see it more often.

“The more consistent that she can train, the better she’ll get,” Fox said.

Hendry said she viewed her early slow race as a sign of where she was and where she wanted to go.

“I felt like it was a good starting point,” she said. “To be like, OK, this is where you start, but that doesn’t mean that’s where you need to finish.”

Margo Malone was Syracuse’s top runner in the fall. She’s one of Hendry’s fellow distance runners, her roommate and a close friend.

She sees Hendry’s positive attitude and dedication up close.

“She does everything right,” said Malone. “From sleeping to eating to just working hard … she’s patient and diligent, and she knows that if she puts the time in, she’s going to get the results.”

With her health issues left behind, Hendry says she is looking forward to improving her times in both indoor and outdoor track. Fox believes a strong spring season from her will bode well for his runner, and expects Hendry to continue getting stronger.

“She’ll get better on the track as we get outside,” he said. “The spring’s really going to be good for her.”

After running from one school to another, Hendry has finally started to settle into place at SU. She said she couldn’t be happier.

“It’s been awesome,” she said. “Obviously it wasn’t an easy choice to make, but I think it was the best decision I could have made. I’m really happy I chose Syracuse.”

Published on February 25, 2015 at 12:01 am

Contact Matt: mralex01@syr.edu