Crossing the Finish Line Together

By Emily McCaslin

Over spring break, seniors Haley Raburn and Olivia Ross competed in the “Wildman Triathlon 2021,” which consisted of an 800 meter swim, 15 mile bike ride and a 5k. This took an insane amount of strength and dedication, which ended up paying off, as both girls tied for second place.

Photo taken by Whitney Ross, pictured from left to right- Olivia Ross and Haley Raburn

Raburn and Ross have been friends ever since Ross moved to Owasso and joined the swim team. Since then, they have been inseparable. 

“We just kind of instantly clicked,” says Ross. “It became a friendship because we were good for each other as teammates.”

After recently competing in their last swim meet, the girls wanted to keep building their strength. 

“There wasn’t really much to look forward to, fitness wise for us, and that was something big for the both of us,” explained Ross.

Raburn and Ross are both recruited walk ons for OU’s rowing team, so they wanted to stay in shape for their upcoming season. For this reason, the girls decided to do a triathlon. Ross got the idea for competing in a triathlon from her dad, as her father has trained and competed in multiple throughout his life—even competing in an Olympic distance race at one point in time. However, this challenge is not new two either of the girls, seeing as this was Ross's fourth triathlon and Raburn’s second.

“We had both done a triathlon before, and we were like: ‘why don’t we just do one together?’” expressed Ross.

After training long hours, the girls were ready for a challenge. They took a trip down to Florida, and put themselves to the test.

“We just push each other all the time,” commented Ross. “We’re both really goal-oriented people and very motivated individuals.”

Photo taken by Whitney Ross, pictured from left to right- Haley Raburn and Olivia Ross

After competing in all three events, Ross saw her chance at first place, but thinking about all that she had worked for with Raburn, she decided she would wait on her friend.

“We started this together; we’re going to end it together,” they said with a smile. 

I have extreme respect for Ross as she shows that winning is not everything, but being there for your friend makes you even more of a winner.