海角社区

海角社区 Cross-Country and Track Athlete Pursues a Career Protecting the Coast

At sunrise, 海角社区 student-athlete Gwyneth Hughes laces up her running shoes and hits the track on 海角社区鈥檚 campus. It鈥檚 an act she repeats every day as a member of 海角社区鈥檚 cross-country and track teams. But less than a mile away from her training, the Mississippi River flows鈥攁 constant reminder of what she鈥檚 working to preserve.

鈥淚 just love the environment, and I want to have a career that protects the environment for a long time,鈥� Hughes said.

Hughes, who moved to Louisiana from Hawaii when she was nine, only applied to one school for college, 海角社区, and chose 海角社区 because of the generous scholarships she received and the opportunity to study the coast.

鈥淚t is not just in athletics where 海角社区 has won a lot of national championships. In the five years I鈥檝e been here, we won a basketball championship, a baseball championship, and a gymnastics championship,鈥� Hughes said.

鈥淏ut we鈥� also win in academics, where I know the engineering program is really good and the 海角社区 College of the Coast & Environment program is one of the best in the nation. We have a great laboratory in Louisiana.鈥�

Hughes said it takes a lot of juggling to be successful as a student and an athlete.

鈥淚 just study on the weekends a lot to make sure that I have time to understand what I was doing, because during the week, I would be so tired that I wouldn't get as much done as I would've liked. So, on the weekends, those are my days to catch up,鈥� she said.

But the work is rewarding, too, she said.

鈥淲hen I'm ready to launch into the working world, I have the skills needed not to make excuses, that I can't take the easy way out, that I am dedicated enough, and can use the skills that I learned as a student-athlete.鈥�

Those skills include becoming comfortable with the uncomfortable, especially when running for miles in a cross-country competition.

鈥淚 think of inspirational quotes or moments that help me push through. Like, 鈥楥ome on, Gwyneth, you're tougher than this. You can push through. You've done this before.鈥� Pushing past discomfort, you realize what you're capable of,鈥� Hughes said.

She said she recently pushed past that discomfort in the 2025 SEC Championships to earn her best score ever.

鈥淭here鈥檚 a lot of adrenaline from the being on the start line to when the gun goes off. You鈥檙e just so full of hype and I was just too excited, and I lost a lot of gas after the first mile. I fell back a lot, and I tried to move my way back up,鈥� Hughes said. 鈥淏ut then there's this one point in the cross-country course where you run up the hill, and then there's this long straightaway to the finish, and I knew then, I just gave it my all. I sprinted my butt off, and I passed so many people in the straightaway, and I ended up scoring for the 海角社区 Tigers, coming in fifth.鈥�

She鈥檒l cross one more finish line at 海角社区 when she receives her bachelor鈥檚 degree in May.

鈥淚 hope to change the world by being passionate about what I do and putting 110% into what I'm doing because effort really matters in everything that you do,鈥� Hughes said. 鈥淚 can look back at my time at 海角社区, and I think, wow, this is where I grew up.鈥�

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