As the third runner rounds the final curve, the baton approaches senior Madison Hanyzewski, who stands shoulder-to-shoulder with seven other runners, eyes locked on the exchange. In the 4×200-meter relay, the anchor leg is a high-stakes sprint where the race is won or lost in a matter of seconds. For Hanyzewski, that tension is where she feels most at home.
When Hanyzewski moved to The Woodlands in 2020, community was the first thing she looked for. For a lot of students, walking into McCullough Junior High as a brand new student would be daunting, but she embraced it. While trying to find her place, she turned to cross country.
“It was the friends, coaches and just the good community that pushed me through eighth grade,” Hanyzewski said.
Throughout middle school, she quickly discovered her passion for running, and what started as a way to be more social turned into something she wanted to take seriously. During her eighth-grade year, she joined after-school track practices on top of cross country, where she realized she had found something worth pursuing.
“Once I got to high school, I could see that I wanted to continue to build on that determination I knew I had,” Hanyzewski said.
Entering The Woodlands High School, Hanyzewski decided to push herself even further and joined JROTC at the high school while also competing in track.
“A lot of people thought I wouldn’t like it and that I wouldn’t be good at it,” Hanyzewski said. “I wanted to prove them wrong, and I did.”
But despite the doubt, Hanyzewski quickly began to see success. As a freshman, she received the honor of becoming the First Cadet of the Year. Then by her junior year, she became the first junior in recent program history to earn an officer ranking. To Hanyzewski, this was simply a reflection of the discipline she has carried into every aspect of life.
Through JROTC’s mental and physical strain, Hanyzewski admits that it was this structure that helped shape the athlete she is now.
While balancing JROTC and varsity track, Hanyzewski also stepped into a coaching role with Team Green Running, the same program where she first began running after moving to The Woodlands. Going into her junior year, she approached coach Dan Green about helping with summer camps after searching for a summer job connected to the sport she loved.
What started as helping with camps quickly became something much bigger. After working with younger athletes during the summer, Hanyzewski was asked to stay on as a part-time sprint coach throughout the year, leading workouts and helping train athletes several days a week.
“I found my passion of that’s what I want to do after college,” Hanyzewski said. “Coaching really showed me how much I love helping athletes grow.”
Despite being one of the younger coaches on staff, Hanyzewski quickly earned the trust of both athletes and other coaches. Through leading workouts and working directly with younger runners, she began to see the sport from an entirely different perspective.
Coaching also changed the way Hanyzewski approached her own performance as an athlete. Watching athletes respond to instruction made her more aware of her own habits during practice and strengthened the way she worked with her coaches.
“When a coach tells me to do something, I do everything I possibly can to execute it the way that they asked,” Hanyzewski said.
At the same time, coaching taught her patience. Working with younger athletes reminded her that improvement does not happen instantly, something she now carries into her own training.
“They taught me to take a step back and realize that not everything’s going to be perfect on the first day,” Hanyzewski said. “You just have to keep working at it.”
During her junior season, she made a clear shift. She was no longer running on the junior varsity level. Instead, she was moved up to run with some of the best high school athletes in the country. Not only was she running on the varsity team, but she was also becoming someone her team could consistently rely on in relays and high-pressure races.
“During my junior year, it kind of locked in,” Hanyzewski said. “I realized this could carry me further than just being a sport.”
Now, in her senior season, everything has come together. She runs all three relays and has been competing in some of the most competitive meets of the year. On top of this, she is always willing to step in when needed. For instance, during the varsity district meet, Hanyzewski was unexpectedly moved to the last leg in the 4×200-meter relay.
But Hanyzewski didn’t waver when faced with this challenge. Instead, she pushed forward.
“It was neck and neck,” Hanyzewski said. “But right at the end, I was able to pull away and secure second place.”
But even in those high-pressure moments, what drives her stays the same. When asked what pushes her forward, Hanyzewski said it comes down to keeping things simple and trusting the work she has already put in.
“The minute you get in your head, you’re already behind,” she said.
That approach has been built over years, shaped by her experiences in JROTC, coaching and the work she has put in outside of practice. What started as trying to find a place at a new school turned into something much bigger.
Now, Hanyzewski is taking that next step. She has signed with Saint Leo University, where she will continue her track career at the collegiate level. It is a faster and more competitive stage, but one she has spent years preparing for.
Her path has not been built on one moment. From JROTC to coaching for Team Green to stepping into bigger roles on the track, each part of her experience has shaped how she approaches the sport. What started as a way to find her place turned into something she could carry forward.
The same runner who once searched for a place to belong is now leaving with one she built for herself, shaped by the work she put in both on and off the track.
