XC standout Bailey Eaton to run for Embry-Riddle

Whitefish High School senior Bailey

Eaton is a standout snowboarder and skier on the slopes, a calculus

fanatic in the classroom, and was a vital link for a Lady Bulldog

cross-country team that won four consecutive state Class A

titles.

To call her well-rounded is an

understatement, but it’s her aptitude for running that has Eaton

packing her bags for the sunny beaches of Florida. Eaton recently

earned a full scholarship to run for the women’s cross-country team

at Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University, in Daytona Beach, Fla. She

joins the NAIA-ranked Eagles this fall.

It wasn’t always a goal of Eaton’s to

run in college, but when offered the chance to attend Embry-Riddle,

her dream school, and run, she jumped at the chance.

“I wasn’t that interested in running in

college,” she said, “but I was thinking that if I could get a

scholarship for running, it could help get me into the school I

wanted to go to.”

Eaton contacted Embry-Riddle

cross-country coach Mike Rosolino last fall and set up a week to

tour the school and run with the team during practice. She left for

the trip one week after she helped Whitefish wrap up another state

title.

“I did two workouts with them,” she

said. “It was really fun, and all of the girls were really nice. I

liked it down there.”

She stayed in contact with Rosolino and

in early January was offered the scholarship. She accepted the

following day.

While she’s looking forward to running

for the Eagles, it’s Embry-Riddle’s academics that have Eaton most

excited. She’s pined to attend the university since sixth grade

when she was in Whitefish Middle School teacher Tim McGunagle’s

class.

“He inspired me to want to be an

astronaut,” Eaton said, with a wide smile. “He told me about the

college, and ever since then, I had my goals set on Embry-Riddle. I

didn’t think it was possible I would actually go there, but then

one day I kind of realized I have what it takes and I should just

go for it.”

It’s that same drive and passion that

has propelled Eaton to her great achievements in running. She says

the two go hand-in-hand.

“Running is the most impacting thing

I’ve done in my life,” she said. “It’s taught me everything I know

about setting goals and working hard to reach those goals.”

There was no better display of Eaton’s

fortitude than her performance last year at the state Class A

cross-country race in Helena. After bonking and cramping up on the

home stretch, falling to her knees multiple times, Eaton literally

crawled across the finish line to give the team the overall win. It

will go down as one of the grittiest displays of determination ever

seen in Whitefish sports history.

“It gave me a realization that I could

get through a lot,” Eaton said. “I had a goal, and I knew what I

wanted to do, and I wasn’t going to give up. It gave me insight to

how much personal strength you can have if you dig deep down and

really have the passion.”

She credits her teammates, the “Fab

Five” as she calls them, for helping her have the will to keep

going.

“The support from everybody around me

at that moment was incredible,” she said. “The best part was my

teammates. I could see them yelling, and I was just trying to get

to them. They were the ones I had to work for. We were all together

at that time.”

On the slopes, Eaton is a one-woman

wrecking ball in local boarder-cross races, most recently taking

second place overall in the Nate Chute Hawaiian Classic. She’s been

on the snow since she was a little girl and says she “just loves

going fast.”

In Florida, however, without snow or

mountains, she’ll possibly pick up on some water sports or just

focus on running and studying.

She’s unsure if she’ll continue her

pursuit toward her sixth-grade dream of becoming an astronaut while

at Embry-Riddle but says, “It still might happen.”

And it could. Embry-Riddle is

nationally ranked as one of the top aeronautical schools and is the

world’s oldest and largest university specializing in aviation and

aerospace. Numerous graduates go on to work with the Air Force,

Navy, commercial airlines and, yes, become astronauts.

With Eaton’s drive and will power, no

one should put anything past her.