ROCKINGHAM — Maylyn Wallace will get to enjoy two of the things she loves most while in college — running and flying.
The Richmond Senior High School cross country standout verbally committed to continue her academic and athletic career late last month.
She’ll be running at Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University in Daytona Beach, Fla., while also chasing her dreams of becoming a commercial pilot.
Running competitively is relatively new to Wallace’s regimen, having picked it up at the start of her sophomore year. She’s a two-time All-Conference runner and has competed in the 4A regional event the past couple of seasons.
Even newer is flying, which saw Wallace officially begin taking lessons in December. The idea to pursue a career in aviation came to Wallace when she attended a cross country camp at Liberty University this past summer.
“When I was at that camp, I was asked what I wanted to major in and I wasn’t sure,” Wallace explained. “I always knew I didn’t want a desk job or to work outside.
“At Liberty, I saw aviation on their list of majors and it clicked,” she added. “It was the perfect idea of what I wanted to do, and the traveling aspect is what I’m also really excited about.”
Last fall in between her training for the Lady Raider cross country season, Wallace started to look more into a career in aviation.
She contacted Jason Gainey, who is the airport manager for Richmond County Airport. Wallace had Gainey as a teacher during eighth grade at Rockingham Middle School and recalled him talking about how exciting the career path was.
Wallace took a “discovery flight” with Gainey to see if she enjoyed flying, which she did.
Around the same time, Wallace attended an aviation seminar at RSHS set up by career development coordinator Jason Perakis. Invited to speak to the group of students was 1981 Richmond graduate Alan Sowell, a captain with United Airlines.
“I met with Capt. Sowell in November and he had a big influence with my decision to pursue flying,” Wallace explained. “He’s the one who actually recommended Embry-Riddle, and he’s been a great mentor to me during this process. He made a checklist for me, which has been a lot of help.”
Before the Thanksgiving holiday, Sowell arranged the opportunity for Wallace to fly to Embry-Riddle and check out the school’s campus and facilities. She was also able to meet with head cross country coach Mike Rosolino.
Maylyn Wallace started taking flying lessons in December. (Contributed photo)
“I chose to go to Embry-Riddle because they have so much technology and their fleet size is beyond anything I had seen,” Wallace said. “I learned about all of their safety procedures and knew I really wanted to go there and that I could become confident as a pilot.
“It’s really amazing to get to continue to run,” she added. “I was really pleased with being able to choose a school based on academics that’s also giving me a chance to run. When I met with (Rosolino), he told me they had a spot for me and I’m really blessed.”
Wallace had an offer to run at Meredith College, and was also strongly considering running at Liberty.
This past season, Wallace set several new personal-record times, finishing her high school career with her fastest race in the 4A Mideast Regional.
She clocked in at 20:57.24 in the race held at the WakeMed Soccer Complex in Raleigh, and placed 45th in a field of 134 runners. Wallace has also run in several invitationals over the last couple of months.
In December, Wallace’s flying career got off the ground when she started taking flying lessons with instructor Andy Phillips. Working toward earning her private pilot’s license, Wallace has been flying out of Moore County Airport.
Operating a Cessna 172, Wallace also completed her first solo flight two weeks ago. She anticipates earning her PPL by the time she graduates high school.
“We were doing take-offs and landings at Moore County and it was a normal lesson,” Wallace recalled. “Once I landed the third one, Andy said it was time that I flew solo. I stayed in the traffic pattern over the airport and I flew solo for about 15 minutes.
“It was super exciting, and I truly wasn’t nervous,” she added. “I felt really prepared and really enjoyed my time up there. I love the freedom of flying and having full control on the plane.”
Maylyn Wallace during a flying lesson. (Contributed photo)
Wallace explained that there are a lot of parallels between flying a plane and running cross country.
“You have to be very focused with both,” she said. “Flying is a lot of steps at once which requires focus, and when I’m running, the focus is on finishing the race as best I can.
“I feel like determination is a big part of flying and running,” she added. “Especially with the book portion of flying and keeping up with learning everything new, and staying determined to do well in a race or workout.”
When Wallace begins school later this summer, she will study aeronautical science. She is the second recent RSHS grad to obtain her PPL and attend flight school, following 2020 graduate Cole Deane.
The Embry-Riddle Eagles averaged an 8th place finish in their six meets last season and placed 10th out of 18 teams in the NCAA Division II South Region Championship.
