When Amy Crozier arrived at Bloomington North in 1977, girls’ cross country wasn’t a recognized sport in Indiana. She didn’t know that beforehand, but when she found out, nothing really changed. All she wanted to do was run. Even if it was with the boys’ team, she just wanted to run. 

Running with boys wasn’t something new to Crozier. Before high school, she ran with Parks and Rec, and everyone ran together. So thankfully, she already knew some of the guys that ran at North.

“I was good at running, and when I got here, I just ran with whoever was here,” Crozier said. “I didn’t think anything of it. I was disappointed (that there wasn’t a girls’ team), but I didn’t think it was that big of a deal.”

Even so, Crozier faced some challenges running with the boys’ team. She had to learn the routes on her own, which made it much more difficult for her to keep up with the rest of the pack. 

“The older ones knew the routes, but they didn’t bother to tell me.” “I had to keep the last shirt in sight or I didn’t know where we were going.”

That didn’t seem to have much of an impact on Crozier’s race results. As a sophomore, she finished first in an unofficial girls’ state meet. She was no match for the rest of the field, beating out the nearest competition by 100 yards.  

A few years later, as a senior, Crozier, along with five other BHSN students, were the members of the inaugural girls’ cross country team at North. You had to have six members and a coach to be recognized as a team.

That was what Crozier by far considers her biggest accomplishment at North. It was never about any of the events or awards she won. It was all about the team. 

“It was always about the team, and it still is.”

After living in California for a little bit, an opportunity opened up for Crozier to move back to Bloomington and teach at BHSN. She didn’t hesitate to take the opportunity. That was 11 years ago, and she’s still here today.

“It means everything to me,” Crozier said. “Everyone circles back to Bloomington at some point. It just fell into place.”

Crozier is now an assistant coach for girls’ cross country. She believes that her role as an assistant is to support the girls, and help them understand what opportunities are available to them. 

“I like hearing their day-to-day stories and helping them make decisions,” Crozier said. “Just realizing what the opportunities are (for them).”

Crozier was recently inducted into the Monroe County Hall of Fame class of 2022. She mentioned the importance of doing it this year, as 2022 marks the 50th anniversary of Title IX, a law that prevents sex-based discrimintion in any school or education program.

“It meant a lot to me to do it this year.”“So I appreciate quite a bit that they nominated me that particular year. Because it really is just full-circle.”

It’s been quite the full-circle for Crozier, to say the least. And she’s still giving back to the school at which she laid down the groundwork for successful girls’ cross country.