Feature: Arianna Ghiorso has come a long way since her freshman year

Arianna Ghiorso can sense the finish line.  

It’s true she has no reason to believe Saturday’s cross country conference finals will mark the end of her decorated running career. The senior hopes to qualify for nationals, and she’s looking forward to track and field season in the spring.  

But sooner than later, Ghiorso will be a former athlete and a graduate of The Master’s University. 

This doesn’t sit well with Ghiorso. “I don’t even have a small amount of senioritis right now,” she says. And it has sparked a fair amount of reminiscing. She sometimes scans through a pleasant bank of TMU memories: She’s had great mentors, she’s made lifelong friends, she’s grown in her desire for God’s Word and she’s been an NAIA All-American. The past four years have been simultaneously a grind, a joy and a blur, and she doesn’t want any of it to end. 

But it will (she knows that). And the future is uncertain (she knows that too). However, she takes comfort in knowing God controls the future and that He’ll equip her for whatever He calls her to do. She’s already seen Him do it at Master’s, where she was once a freshman who felt wildly unprepared to lead her team and who often struggled to stay awake in chapel. 

She’s come a long way since then.

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TMU head coach Zach Schroeder uses clearly defined criteria to sort through potential cross country and track and field recruits. Do they show evidence of a saving relationship with Jesus Christ? Do they possess a competitive hunger? Do they exude humility? And how are their people skills? 

Early on, Schroeder knew Ghiorso checked every box. 

A track and field state champion from Meridian, Idaho, Ghiorso is an exceptional athlete with a nonstop motor. She’s disciplined and kind and quick to smile. She loves Jesus, and she’s coachable. Schroeder never questioned whether Ghiorso would buy into his training methods and the culture at TMU, where a commitment to Christ and Scripture is the foundation of every activity, including athletics. 

It was a no-brainer, then, that Ghiorso was in line for a promotion after Schroeder’s team captain graduated midway through the 2018-19 school year. Ghiorso was still just a freshman trying to find her footing. She felt small, unqualified and totally overwhelmed. What advice did she have to offer to upperclassmen? She needed calm reassurance. So she called her mother, Micheline. 

“I was crying, and I was like, ‘Mom, I’m not ready to do this,’” Ghiorso recalls. “And she said, ‘Well, if the Lord is presenting this opportunity to you, it’s because He thinks you’re ready. And whatever part of you isn’t ready, He will give you the strength.’” 

Micheline remembers going a step further. “I told her, ‘Coach sees something in you that you don’t even see in yourself. This isn’t about how you feel, it’s about how God can use you.’” 

Mother knew best. 

Over the following three years, Ghiorso blossomed into one of the most beloved and dependable captains in program history. It was an accomplishment aided by Zach Schroeder and his wife, Amie, an assistant coach. They met with Ghiorso to talk through the qualities of a God-honoring leader and to invest in Ghiorso as she, in turn, invested in her teammates. 

Ghiorso was a fast learner. Really, she already possessed many of the qualities essential to leadership. Intrinsic traits just needed to be fine-tuned and encouraged. 

For instance, Ghiorso is humble, almost to a fault. She prefers to remain out of the spotlight and to avoid anything resembling public speaking. What she learned was that leadership was less rah-rah, and more about being raw – or real. She didn’t always have to have the perfect thing to say. Often, just by diligently following Christ and giving freely of her time, she could set a clear example for others to follow. 

So, Ghiorso met with girls over coffee, offering a listening ear and encouraging them to consistently seek God through His Word and prayer. Says teammate Brooke Milam: “Arianna could be in the middle of homework, but if I’m struggling with something and need to get her opinion, she drops what she’s doing, and you can tell her focus is totally on you.” 

Often Ghiorso doesn’t wait for others to approach her. Instead, she keeps her head on a swivel, making sure no one feels left out or insignificant. In cross country, it can be easy to define oneself by your position on the team (I’m the No. 1 runner, so I’m important. I’m No. 10, so I’m not). Not here, Ghiorso says. 

Ghiorso also sets the standard for training. No one outworks her on 6 a.m. runs. Says Zach Schroeder, “There are very few athletes in the NAIA who can match her work ethic.” Even fewer people can say they’ve heard Ghiorso complain about … well, anything. And even as the program has added runners who can challenge Ghiorso for the team’s top spot in cross country, Ghiorso has embraced the challenge. She’s all about helping others reach their full potential, even if it means she’s not always out front. 

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Three times each week, TMU’s student body gathers to worship through song and the preaching of God’s Word. The practice is central to TMU’s mission, which is to equip students for a lifetime of eternal influence. 

At first, Ghiorso wasn’t feeling it. She says she often fell asleep or goofed off during chapel as a freshman. 

A year later, something clicked. “I was convicted that I wasn’t utilizing the gift that God had given me,” she says. “When am I ever going to sit under preaching like that so often again?” 

Ghiorso began listening, taking notes and applying what she learned. She also started to cherish her general education classes in biblical studies, which “went into so much more depth than my personal quiet times.” 

“You learn so much more than you ever thought you would,” she says. 

Ghiorso often called home. But on these occasions, she wasn’t in tears. 

Says Micheline, “It’s great when your kids call you from college and say things like, ‘Wow, this is what the Lord showed me this week; this is how the Lord is growing me; chapel was so good, here’s what I took from it.’ Getting those calls or text messages is exciting.” 

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Athletically speaking, Ghiorso didn’t accomplish everything she wanted to during her first two years at TMU. She was less than pleased with her performance at cross country nationals in 2019. Arriving with high hopes, she left Vancouver, Washington, with a 56th-place finish and no All-American honor. 

The result was a symptom of something that had plagued Ghiorso since high school. Often on race day, a sense of fear settled into her chest. She says she was afraid of failure and of the pain she knew, like every runner, she’d have to endure in order to run so far in so little time. 

Beginning last season, two things helped Ghiorso finally overcome her anxiety. First, TMU codified a mission statement for its athletic department titled “The Master’s Way.” The document sets an overarching goal for every team: “to prepare and perform as an act of W.O.R.S.H.I.P.” The acronym spells out what it means to compete for the glory of God in practical terms. Ghiorso found it instructive. 

Secondly, Amie Schroeder, TMU’s assistant, reminded Ghiorso that “perfect love casts out fear,” a reference to 1 John 4:18 and a phrase that helped Ghiorso push past her nerves. 

“No matter how much it hurts, and no matter what the outcome is, Christ’s love is sufficient,” Ghiorso says. “I am who I am in Christ because of what He’s already done for me.” 

Armed with a new mindset, Ghiorso earned her first All-American honor in cross country last season. She also qualified during track for the national final in the 1,500 meters. And this season, she’s already hit a new personal record in cross country, with an opportunity to lower that time again at the Golden State Athletic Conference Championships in Santa Clarita on Saturday. This late in the game, Zach Schroeder still believes Ghiorso’s best performances are ahead of her. And he’s talking about more than just racing. 

“We’re excited to see how the Lord uses Ariana because she’s been unbelievably impactful here through running, and running is such a simple thing,” Schroeder says. “As she advances into more mature stages of life, I have no doubt she's going to be a leader wherever she goes.” 

Ghiorso shares her coach’s optimism. God has shown Himself faithful during her time at TMU. She’s confident He’ll provide the strength she needs for whatever comes next.

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