The once shy and quiet kid from Oak Harbor High School has come a long way since then.

Everett's distance track captain Megan Hall was named an NWAACC All-American last season after qualifying for the NWAACC championships in the 5,000-meter and 10,000-meter runs.

This year Hall has come out better than ever with drastic improvements on her team best times from last season.

Last season Hall ran her best time in the 5,000-meter run in 19 minutes, 24 seconds while placing in eighth in the race. On April 24 of this season Hall improved by nearly one minute to take first place at the Western Washington University Twilite Alumni Meet with a time of 18:27.

It's not just her time on the track that has shown improvements, but her confidence as well.

"I remember when I was a ninth grader in school sitting by myself in the corner and not talking to anyone," Hall said. "Now I have more confidence in myself and what I'm doing in life."

Hall said that running helped her to build relationships and come out of her shell whereas before she said she was just going through the motions.

"Just going out and running with people helped to build relationships and get active," Hall said. "Just going out and saying 'Hey, you want to go for a run' helped me to gain more confidence."

One of the Trojans freshman runners Krissy McGill went to high school with Hall and said that Hall's confidence improved with her running.

"In high school [Hall] was very quiet and as her running improved she started to come out of her shell and now is very talkative," McGill said.

Hall believes that running helped her to build a religious relationship as well.

She currently helps out at the Stanwood Four Square youth group as an adult leader during Bible studies.

Hall has already qualified for both the 5,000-meter run and the 10,000-meter
run for this year's NWAACC championships with her previously mentioned time on April 24 for the 5,000-meter and her personal best time of 39:59 on April 10 at the Ralph Vernacchia Invitational.

Hall said her goal is to run under 18 minutes in the 5,000-meter run by the time the championships start on May 21.