Ten 10 MaxPreps stories from fall of 2012

From a record-setting rusher to blind athletes to 67-yard field goals to 21-year-old imposters, the fall of 2012 had it all. Here's a sampling.

Thumbnail image of this articles writer: Mitch Stephens
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Jan 2, 2013, 3:00pm

6. Blind runner crosses line with seeing eye dog
Sami Stoner with her seeing-eye dog Chloe are fan favorites wherever they run.
Sami Stoner with her seeing-eye dog Chloe are fan favorites wherever they run.
Courtesy photo

Sami Stoner, a creative, outdoorsy and studious sort, never imagined herself a homecoming princess.

But there she sat, in front of the entire student body of 900 at the Lexington (Ohio) High auditorium last Friday, dressed in sequins, jewelry and fitted, flowing formal attire.

On her lap was a covered box filled with three roses, and if colored red, she would be crowned the queen, a fact completely lost to the humble 17-year-old senior who simply took in the moment.

"It was all so incredible," she said. "I never dreamed of such a thing."

But how could she? How could she have fathomed any of the last four years?

As an eighth-grader she was diagnosed with Stargardt's disease, a hereditary form of macular degeneration that causes irreversible blindness. Stoner can see slightly peripherally, but everything straight ahead is dark and blurry.

At 14, she considered what her sightless life would miss – driving a car, career choices, images of her family's faces – but chose to focus and build on the gifts she still had: Strong legs. Healthy lungs. A kind and courageous heart. And most important, a voice.

Though sweet and soft, she used the latter to voice her one true passion in life – the ability to run. And run far.

She had gone out for cross country earlier in the year "and fell in love with it," Stoner said. "It just allows you to clear your mind, sort through life. It's peaceful and relaxing and constant."

Simply, she wouldn't give that up. "If you love something enough, you'll find a way," she said.

That decision began her four-year high school cross country career and an unfathomable path.

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