By Kim Bretta and Maggie Mahoney

            While Mrs. Wallace’s choice about becoming a teacher was part of a process of elimination, her passion for running has led her to become the successful coach for the Westborough Girls’ Cross Country Team. 

            Even though she is a chemistry teacher now, in high school Mrs. Wallace had an aptitude for English.  She also enjoyed her math, science, and architectural drawing classes.  After high school, she went to St. Joesph’s University in Philadelphia for her undergraduate studies.  There, she majored in Chemistry and minored in Psychology. 

After St. Joe’s, she attended Boston University for graduate school, and studied Chemistry Education.  In January of 2006 she started teaching at Westborough High School. 

            As a teacher and a coach, Mrs. Wallace likes to meet new people and build relationships with them.  She recognizes them both as large time commitments, but feels that “there is no greater joy than helping others.”  This is one of the reasons that she loves being a teacher and a coach.       

            Mrs. Wallace ran throughout her high school and college years, which helped her gain knowledge about the sport of cross-country.  Mr. Greer, her high school coach, was a role model because he always told her that she could do better.  She trusted him then and still calls him for advice every once in while. 

This year, the cross-country team consists of thirty-eight runners, with a record of 3-3. “Nashoba is the one right now,” says Mrs. Wallace, but she also acknowledges that every competitor has a solid team.  She feels the team keeps on improving this year, because of all of the effort the girls put into the sport.  Her goal for the team is to get everyone to improve their times at the Lee Property, which allows her to look at their individual success. 

            Although cross-country is not a very popular sport, Mrs. Wallace thinks that it would be great for more people to come watch the cross-country home meets which shows team spirit and motivates the runners. 

“For nearly every sport, an athlete has to be a hard worker, talented, dedicated, self-motivated, and have a passion for what they’re doing,” concludes Mrs. Wallace.