Wray running toward a teaching career

Courtesy of The Pilot News.

PLYMOUTH — To say being named Plymouth High School’s female Kizer Award winner as best senior athlete was a surprise to Sophie Wray would be a bit of an understatement.
“I honestly didn’t know that was an award,” she said. “When they started talking about it I thought, ‘Oh, that could be me’. In my grade, we don’t have a lot of three-sport athletes and I know that’s different than it used to be.”
What isn’t different is that the award is decided by a committee that has the coaches of all sports at PHS along with former winners of the award. They look for character as much as athletic ability and Wray was humbled by the accolade.
“There had to be a lot of people involved,” said Sophie. “People know me and I know them but I don’t think I get a chance to interact with them a lot since I have really just one coach that does all my training. It’s good to know that they pay attention to those in other sports.”
Sophie comes from a sports family with Dad Brian being the state’s leading scorer in basketball in the 1997-98 season. Brother Davis graduated a year ago after a stellar career in basketball and sister Izzy had enormous success this year on the tennis court.
“We all grew up with sports all around us,” said Sophie. “I’ve played soccer, basketball, many sports. My mom is competitive but I think my dad gets more into that competitive thing. My mom is supportive but my dad is invested in it all.”
“My dad has his picture on the wall at the school and I think it’s cool to say that’s my dad and it’s cool to follow that same pathway and make my name too.”
“That’s where it came from is the drive to be competitive,” she said. “We are so competitive with each other, we always wanted to win. Even my extended family coming over and playing whiffle ball together, we always wanted to win. When I started in cross country and track I was just trying to run a good time. I think I’ve developed as a runner to be competitive with the people around me. If somebody passes you you have to pick it up. You want to be better than those around you.”
A last-second decision in Jr. High made running Sophie’s sports “go-to”.
“I played volleyball in fifth and sixth grade and running was never a thing,” she said. “I was good at running but I wasn’t really going to be a runner. My brother Davis did cross country and he liked it a lot and he liked his team so when I got into Jr. High on the first day, I was planning on going to volleyball but I didn’t really like it that much and Davis had been persuading me so instead of going to volleyball practice I went to cross country. It was something that I could learn and enjoy.”
For the Plymouth grad running also became more than just a sport.
“I feel like it helped me deal with some anxiety. It helps me release everything,” she said. “I could go out for a run and then feel a lot better. You feel good after. It’s a reward. You feel so much better when you’re done. You can train your mind and see how strong you can be.”
“I felt kind of weak at times. You don’t know how strong you are until you put yourself in a situation that forces you to be strong. This year before the regional I was feeling like I just didn’t know if I could run anymore. I had to put my emotions aside and go run and I ran the time I needed to go to state. I did it when it was one of the hardest times for me, and it just showed me how strong I can be.”
When it comes to classwork Wray tends to the fine arts.
“I would say art is my favorite subject, but I think some would say that’s debatable as a subject in school but I like writing a lot,” said Sophie. “Especially when it’s something that I’m passionate about. It’s easy for me to just sit and write away.”
While it took some time to settle on running as an athletic course Wray seems to have always known her career pursuit.
“I’m going to go into elementary education,” she said. “When we were little me and my siblings would play ‘fake teacher’ in the basement and all my little cousins would come over. I think I’ve always wanted to be a teacher. I like kids, I like being around them. It’s impactful to a lot of kids and I like that.”
“I want to have an impact on those around me. I participated in an individual sport but I always wanted the team to win. I don’t want anybody to ever think that I wanted it for myself.”