See Strides Past Setbacks

*This Story Is Brought To You By Hi-Line Ford*

As the Scottie cross country teams head into State Saturday, senior Emily See is completing another leg of her life's race. This year marks Emily's third appearance at State. She finished seventh her freshman year, placing just off the podium in 2020. Last season, she earned fourth place after missing the 2021 season due to a stress fracture.

Tendinitis has kept Emily sidelined most of this season but she still plans to compete this weekend. "I know I can run through the pain," Emily said. "So I know that I can do that at State if worse comes to worse."

Her drive to excel in running is pushed by competition with herself, though other runners do play a role in each race. Emily's focus is to do better, run faster each time, though it has come with a price at times. "I fell like that's why I've struggled with injuries, because I don't really know when to stop pushing so hard," she laughed.

Still, her injuries are but a speed bump on her journey and she is determined to stride past them, just as she strode past a life-threatening cancer diagnosis at the age of six.

"I had helped Emily that morning get ready for school and she was fine," said her mother Amber See, of that day in 2012. "When she came home from school (she came to Grandma Karen's after school since that is where we were harvesting), she walked through the door, I was in the house and noticed that the one side of her stomach was large."

Amber questioned her daughter to see if something had happened that day at school in Opheim, thinking perhaps Emily had been hit in the stomach during gym. When all responses came back negative, Amber, a nurse, knew something was wrong. Believing the swelling may have indicated a ruptured appendix, she loaded Emily into the car for a trip to the emergency room in Glasgow.

Emily had a CT scan and blood work done leading local healthcare staff to believe the cause of the swelling was a Wilms tumor, a rare kidney cancer that mainly affects children.

The family was referred to the Children's Hospital in Aurora, Colo., because there was no surgeon available in Billings if the threat was indeed a Wilms tumor. Amber called Corbin, her husband and Emily's father, to update him. Corbin, who had been harvesting at the family farm near Opheim, made arrangements with his parents to care for Ted, Emily's younger brother. After gathering some items necessary for the unexpected trip, Corbin met Amber and Emily in Glasgow.

The couple began the overnight drive to Colorado, taking turns at the wheel. They arrived at the emergency room there at about 7 a.m., where the staff had not been expecting them for another few hours.

The long night was followed by a long stay in the emergency room two states away. Amber and Corbin learned the growth was not a Wilms tumor but that Emily would still need surgery. The six-year-old was admitted to the hospital while her parents waited out the Labor Day weekend.

Monday morning, doctors removed a tumor the size of a cantaloupe and Emily's right kidney. A port for cancer treatment was placed.

Three weeks passed – more waiting for the young family – before they received a phone call with a diagnosis: High Grade Pleomorphic Kidney Sarcoma.

The disease is rare, and rarer still in children. "At the time the doctor in Colorado said her case was only the second one in the U.S. and that her tumor was being studied because of this," Amber said. Emily's tumor was sent to three specialists across the country for diagnosis and Emily endured many more tests and scans to ensure no other tumors were present. There were not and her post-surgery treatment began.

The Sees returned to Colorado following that phone call to meet with a pediatric oncologist. Emily began her chemotherapy treatments there, which stretched out over a year. She was able to receive some treatments closer to home, both in Glasgow and in Billings for, as her mom put it, the "big treatments," a combination of two to three chemo treatments.

After the doctors and treatments had done their work, Emily continued her course through life. A few years later she discovered running via cross country.

"I guess I got started way back in fifth grade. Mr. [Andrew] McKean came down to Irle School," she said. She tried out her sixth grade year, drawn by the idea of running with a "super-close family, tight knit group." The decision was the right one, "[I] just instantly fell in love with it. It was so much fun. It was freeing, almost."

Emily's love of running is combined with a natural talent for the physically and mentally demanding sport. But talent and love will take athletes only so far. Practice and work are required to hit the next level.

Andrew, who coached Emily in middle school and now serves as a volunteer coach for her high school team, said, " ... Emily was a talented runner from the get-go. She was on a team of middle school girls that went undefeated ... She has never been one to be boisterous or cocky, but had racked up some pretty impressive performances by combining an almost boundless work ethic with native talent and a strong desire to win. That's something that's defined her as a runner since sixth grade."

Emily continued her running career in high school. "And then freshman year, it really started clicking like, oh I can actually do this in college. I could maybe get a scholarship off this. And then that kind of just drove it more."

Andrew relayed a story highlighting Emily's drive. " ... 2021 when she was a freshman trackster – back to competing with Iris [McKean, Andrew's daughter], who has been both a fierce competitor and a role model for Emily. It was the 3200 meters, the second-to-last event. Emily had finished in eighth place in the 16- meters, out of All-State consideration, while Iris took fourth place. In the 3200, Emily just got out of the lead pack and looked to be fading. But in the last lap she caught fire and you could just see her drive. She kicked the last 300 meters and caught Iris out of nowhere, finishing in fourth place and her first All-State finish. Em was the only freshman girl to make All-State in Class B that year in the distance events."

Emily affirmed her feelings towards her former teammate, "I've really looked up to Iris for a really, really long time and she was kind of that role model for me."

Iris, who raced with Emily for two years – Emily's freshman and sophomore years, Iris' junior and senior – praised the now-Senior. "She was exactly what I need going into my last years of high school running – a hard working, determined competitor who undoubtedly pushed me to become a better runner, in turn." The former Scottie, now a University of Montana runner, found inspiration in having a teammate in Glasgow who shared her passion. "I was certainly lucky to have had someone racing next to me with the same goals, and I'm so glad I could help push and influence her as well, to keep working hard throughout high school."

Now in a position to play that same role, Emily takes her opportunity to guide and encourage others seriously. She draws on her experiences with cancer and the role the doctors and nurses played. Emily said, "I don't understand how they [doctors and nurses] could be so happy and everything. That must've been so hard for them to be working with kids like that all day, but then to be able to come back and project happiness on them and never let them know that they were different or that they were sick. Just to be able to create that positive atmosphere for kids, that was really cool of them."

Today, Emily notes that she has to take a step back and remind herself of how far she's come, how much she's accomplished. She notes the lesson applies to injuries and teammates as well. "Some people really beat themselves up, 'Oh you know, I was so much faster last year.' I've noticed that with Kimber [Dulaney] a lot ... with her hamstring injury. I'm like, yeah, but look at how far you've come since then. You're already running two minutes faster than your last season time. That's crazy, that's really good. You gotta just take a step back and look at that."

Andrew noted, "On a personal basis, I've seen Emily become a calm and quiet leader. She doesn't often raise her voice or get boisterous, but when she talks, her teammates listen."

Cross country head coach Tim Phillips hopes Emily's leadership translates into success on the course, for her and her teammates. "I want her to be top 2 at state in cross – and I am really hoping we can get a team title. Jami Hughes was telling the girls last week that yes, she was an individual state champ in track but the team titles – they mean so much more! It's gonna be tough, but that's the goal."

Tim, Andrew and former cross country coach Rod Karst all praised Emily's commitment to face tough challenges. Tim said, "She's one of the toughest runners I've known! Her form is tremendous – she has lots of natural talent, but I think her mental toughness sticks out to me the most. Most people don't understand that coming back from injury (like she did a couple years ago) isn't just waiting for the healing and then you're good to go. In her case, she really just lost the 'flow' of running and it took her a while to get that back.

"She was willing to try more speed this spring [in track] and set personal bests in all her distances: that resiliency is part of what makes her so special."

All three noted that when Emily competed at the Scottie Invitational in Fort Peck Sept. 30, it was her decision to race with tendinitis, determination driving her to finish 9 seconds faster than last year when she ran healthy. Andrew said, "Many talented athletes can't handle the pain and endurance required to get better, but Emily embraced that."

While it might be convenient to tie Emily's physical tenacity to her cancer survival, she herself says, "It's hard to tie those two together." There are no lingering physical effects; even missing one kidney does not impact her. "I've never let it mentally affect me."

Perhaps it is more accurate to say the disease did not negatively mentally affect her.

"In terms of her maturity, as both a runner and as a person, I have to say that she's never been immature in either regard. As a 6th grader, she had a lot of composure," Andrew reflected. "I think some of that came from her early challenges as a cancer survivor. At its core, surviving something like that takes endurance, and that's something that Emily has been able to internalize to drive her through the pain and fatigue of endurance running."

Emily agreed, "Yes I would definitely say that. That probably was brought on me by that experience ... like you kind of gotta grow up a little bit. I feel that matured me very quickly." She added that being an older sister adds another level of maturity, one that she embraces as the lead – if only by birth order – of the five See children.

While running is Emily's passion, her family is her love. She lights up when talking about her parents Amber and Corbin and siblings, Ted, Piper, Caleb and Bjørn.

Reflecting on her time dealing with cancer, Emily said, "What's interesting about it is, actually like for the most part it was actually good memories ... the doctors and everyone that took care of me ... they never portrayed that there was something wrong with me ... And my parents, same thing. I don't even remember them treating me different.

"My dad always stuck up for me. I remember this one time, we went to the fair and this was when my hair was just growing back. It was short like a boy's and I was wearing a dress ... The fair lady asked, 'Why is your son wearing a dress?' And, oh my goodness, my dad got so angry. He was like, 'You know what? This is the most disrespectful thing I've ever heard. She just got done with treatment for cancer and her hair is growing back."

Amber remembers much the same of the family's approach to the diagnosis. " ... We didn't change much but for the fact that we just did what we needed to do ... I guess I would say that we put our heads down and plowed through it. I don't think we had the 'down time' to process it, we were busy trying to rearrange our schedule to get harvest done and get everything situated with school and making sure that Ted was taken care of while we were away, we just ...did."

Amber did all of Emily's blood draws from her port and her Neulasta injections, to boost blood counts three weeks after the more intense chemo treatments, at home. Emily still looks to her mom for care, relying on her love and medical background.

Corbin expresses an undemonstrative pride for his daughter and her running now, "I guess it's kinda surprising she went that route, growing up on a ranch like this. I never pushed her. It was kinda of her own thing."

The near-loss of his oldest child came roughly a decade after he lost two of his siblings, Nancy and Kevin, in a car accident. Nancy was a distance runner for the Vikings in Opheim, under Coach Rod Karst, and Emily has heard comparisons with her late aunt, especially from her grandparents. Rod, when asked, noted the two See women both carried a strong work ethic under his tenure.

Corbin acknowledges some resemblances, but sees Emily as her own person, "There's aspects of Nancy you can see in Emily ... [Emily] loves to read, she loves to run but that's about it."

Emily's dad added he is most proud of her "Perseverance. She's stayed on the straight and narrow ... She kinda stays outta trouble which is kinda opposite of what her father did."

Ted and Emily spent a great deal of time apart while the latter received her treatments, their parents wanting to spare him a potentially traumatizing experience, but that does not mean he was not there for his sister.

"Me and Ted were always super, super close. We grew up together, did everything together, always played together. That closeness I think has definitely continued throughout all of our years. But when I had my cancer, we kind of were separated a little bit," she explained. " ... I think he doesn't know this but he helped me get through that a lot because he was my brother. He was always there, willing to play with me and do everything with me."

Piper, Caleb and Bjørn were not born yet when Emily was sick, but now that she has survived and thrived she sees her role as big sister as one of demonstration: each accomplishment she achieves is one she hopes to see her siblings beat. "I guess I'm really trying to project onto my siblings what I would really like to see them go on to ... I want them to beat my times. I want them to beat me in academics. I want to succeed so that they can succeed even farther.

"I got really high hopes for Piper and wrestling. I really hope she sticks with it ... She's gonna be such a good athlete. Caleb – you better watch him in the upcoming years. He's gonna be a good athlete. And then Bjørn is just so little and cute," she gushed.

Emily, an elite athlete, has carved out a trail for her siblings to follow academically as well. Several of her teachers in Glasgow highlighted not only her good grades but her desire to learn and understand the world around her. The National Honor Society member is looking at options for her future beyond high school with the intention of studying geological and petroleum engineering. Emily found physics, chemistry and calculus fun and understandable. She credited Todd Glaser as a "great teacher" who inspires her to pursue the hard sciences.

Todd said, "Emily is an excellent, mature student that has a HUGE drive to succeed. She will always ask questions if she is confused or doesn't know something as success is very important to her. She does not allow any pressure from her peers to influence her in her approach to life. She is truly a one-of-a-kind that comes around every so often. Emily will go far, there's no doubt in my mind."

When Emily spoke with the Courier, she had just talked with the coach at Montana Technological University in Butte, after being contacted by coaches from other universities. She is looking hard at Montana Tech for its engineering program as the top STEM school. When it comes to continuing her running career at the college level, Emily is uncertain though those around her believe wholeheartedly she has the capability to compete at the next level.

"I would love to see her continue her running after high school," Rod said, "but I am not sure that is something she has her heart set on."

"She is an elite athlete ... That emotional maturity, along with her athletic abilities, will make her a very valuable collegiate runner, should she choose to go that route," Andrew opined. "As long as she can stay healthy, I don't think we've seen the height of her capabilities."

Emily's hesitance to commit to a collegiate career stems not from confidence, but her strong ties to her family. "I probably wouldn't be able to come home as much as I would like," she said, "But I would definitely look at going to Montana Tech ... Tech has a great program ... so to get to run and do that, that would be amazing."

Regardless of whether Emily commits to a college career, running will always be a part of her life. She has tried her hand at other sports over the years but natural talent and fondness brought her back to the harrier life, "It's gonna be running for me!"

Fortunately for the senior she has time to make a decision on continuing her athletic career and another Scottie sports season to look forward to after State Cross Country.

"So excited for track! I am super pumped for that. That's gonna be so much fun," she enthused. Last season was an accomplishment for her as she realized how far she has come in life, specifically returning to competition after her stress fracture.

Emily's mental approach to the 2023 track season translates into personal success. "She was willing to try more speed this spring and set personal bests in all her distances," Tim said of her junior year, "that resiliency is part of what makes her so special."

The Scottie distance coach for the track team is also looking forward to the spring season. "In track, I hope we have a healthy spring where she can just use her speed. I think she's really going to improve in all her races, but especially the 1600m. And I know from Coach [Paul] Yoakam on down, we are hungry for some hardware as a team too."

As Emily looked back on her course to this point and where life's race might take her, she reflected on her mom encouraging her to share her story, one that she has rarely mentioned before now. Thinking of other children who might be experiencing a similar situation, Emily's voice caught but she stressed they also have the opportunity to grow up and accomplish incredible things with the right attitude.

"I'm sure the doctors ... probably didn't ever think I was really gonna come out of it. It was a crazy rare case ... I was the second person in the U.S. to have what I had," she said in awe.

In the end, it did not matter to Emily what those doctors may have believed secretly. She strides through life. "Don't be limited by what others think of you. Don't let other people make the limits for you. Always be ready to go past what other people believe you can do, because you can always go farther than they think."

Emily heads into State Cross Country with no finish line in mind, no worry about placement. She is going to run, for her team, competing with and for herself, and proving she can always go farther.