Scholar Athlete of the Week: Zoe Marcus

FAIRPORT, N.Y. Fairport senior Zoe Marcus is an award winning cross country and track & field runner. She has a unique mindset of competition.

“Recently more it’s just about beating my past times,” said Marcus. “It’s less about other people and more about what I want to accomplish.”

It wasn’t always that way. Marcus told me she used to get nervous before races, focusing on her competition. Now, she just competes against herself.

“But now that it’s more like, can I beat my time, can I get out there and try my hardest, it’s a lot more enjoyable to do and a lot more rewarding when you get the time that you want,” said Marcus.

That helped Marcus place high in the 800 meters last season.

Getting to that point was the hard part. An injury kept Marcus in a boot during her sophomore year. As a junior, she had anemia. But she persevered through the struggles.

“It wasn’t a lot of pressure to try and get back and it really helped me focus on recovery and prioritizing that,” said Marcus. “I also think it was nice to take a break from the stress of competition, which is I think really where the switch from racing for other people to racing for myself really changed.”

And in the classroom, Marcus has the same mindset, studying AP Physics for the second year in a row.

“Getting in the zone of working hard,” said Marcus. “When I sit down to do a difficult problem or something, you kind of get into that zone that you get into when you’re running, when you’re just going toward that one goal.”

Marcus will continue her studies, cross country, and track & field at Amherst College in western Massachusetts.

Congrats to Fairport’s Zoe Marcus on being this week’s News10NBC’s Scholar Athlete of the Week!