Quinn Crispell, 16, right, of Swoyersville prepares to race in a cross country meet at the Forty Fort recreation fields.
                                 Aimee Dilger | Times Leader

Quinn Crispell, 16, right, of Swoyersville prepares to race in a cross country meet at the Forty Fort recreation fields.

Aimee Dilger | Times Leader

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<p>Quinn Crispell finishes last, but to applause from the crowd. </p>
                                 <p>Aimee Dilger | Times Leader</p>

Quinn Crispell finishes last, but to applause from the crowd.

Aimee Dilger | Times Leader

<p>Quinn Crispell works with an occupational therapist and speech therapist every week. </p>
                                 <p>Aimee Dilger | Times Leader</p>

Quinn Crispell works with an occupational therapist and speech therapist every week.

Aimee Dilger | Times Leader

<p>Quinn Crispell rehydrates after practice at Wyoming Valley West.</p>
                                 <p>Aimee Dilger | Times Leader</p>

Quinn Crispell rehydrates after practice at Wyoming Valley West.

Aimee Dilger | Times Leader

<p>Former teammate Angelo Lombardo hugs Quinn after seeing each other at a meet. The two were teammates in middle school before Lombardo started school at Wyoming Seminary.</p>
                                 <p>Aimee Dilger | Times Leader</p>

Former teammate Angelo Lombardo hugs Quinn after seeing each other at a meet. The two were teammates in middle school before Lombardo started school at Wyoming Seminary.

Aimee Dilger | Times Leader

<p>Quinn talks with Wyoming Valley West cross country teammates prior to a meet.</p>
                                 <p>Aimee Dilger | Times Leader</p>

Quinn talks with Wyoming Valley West cross country teammates prior to a meet.

Aimee Dilger | Times Leader

<p>Debbie Crispell a physical therapist, watches daughter Quinn do chin-ups in the family’s basement. Quinn has a daily workout routine in the off season as well as when she is competing.</p>
                                 <p>Aimee Dilger | Times Leader</p>

Debbie Crispell a physical therapist, watches daughter Quinn do chin-ups in the family’s basement. Quinn has a daily workout routine in the off season as well as when she is competing.

Aimee Dilger | Times Leader

<p>Scott Crispell runs behind his daughter, Quinn Crispell, during cross country practice. Sometimes a college athlete will run by her side.</p>
                                 <p>Aimee Dilger | Times Leader</p>

Scott Crispell runs behind his daughter, Quinn Crispell, during cross country practice. Sometimes a college athlete will run by her side.

Aimee Dilger | Times Leader

<p>Scott Crispell jokes with daughter Quinn while the two wait for Quinn’s occupational therapy at John Heinz Rehab.</p>
                                 <p>Aimee Dilger | Times Leader</p>

Scott Crispell jokes with daughter Quinn while the two wait for Quinn’s occupational therapy at John Heinz Rehab.

Aimee Dilger | Times Leader

<p>Quinn Crispell huddles up with her Wyoming Valley West cross country teammates before competition.</p>
                                 <p>Aimee Dilger | Times Leader</p>

Quinn Crispell huddles up with her Wyoming Valley West cross country teammates before competition.

Aimee Dilger | Times Leader

<p>Quinn poses for a portrait in her room.</p>
                                 <p>Aimee Dilger | Times Leader</p>

Quinn poses for a portrait in her room.

Aimee Dilger | Times Leader

<p>Quinn has two pair of the same shoes labeled running and walking, after finding a comfortable pair she liked she opted for the same to run with. </p>
                                 <p>Aimee Dilger | Times Leader</p>

Quinn has two pair of the same shoes labeled running and walking, after finding a comfortable pair she liked she opted for the same to run with.

Aimee Dilger | Times Leader

<p>Quinn Crispell practices on the track and warms up with her team; when out on the road she runs with her father or another adult runner.</p>
                                 <p>Aimee Dilger | Times Leader</p>

Quinn Crispell practices on the track and warms up with her team; when out on the road she runs with her father or another adult runner.

Aimee Dilger | Times Leader

Quinn Crispell is a runner.

The 16-year-old from Swoyersville also is an honor student at Wyoming Valley West High School.

She volunteers as an acolyte and lector at her church.

And she’s a good typist, too.

But as you get to know her, the activity that stands out is her running — because it so obviously, so visibly takes hard work, and perseverance.

Quinn has those attributes in spades.

She also has Down syndrome, and as her parents, Debbie and Scott Crispell explain, that means she usually has to work longer and harder to accomplish things — anything from finishing her math homework to improving her muscle tone — than she would have to work if she hadn’t been born with that Down syndrome.

But just ask Quinn if she gets tired — tired of homework, and therapy, tired of getting up by 5:25 a.m. to train her body with stretches and chin-ups before school.

“No, not really. I never get tired,” she said matter-of-factly on a recent Tuesday afternoon, in between her occupational therapy session and her speech therapy session at John Heinz Institute of Rehabilitation Medicine.

“She’s amazing. She’s a smart cookie,” occupational therapist Lynn Matysczak said after dictating sentences that Quinn deftly typed on a keyboard, sentences that ranged from “The quick brown fox jumped over the lazy dog” to a more complex passage from the book “James and the Giant Peach,” which included such words as “enormous” and “rhinoceros.”

“We’re prepping for college,” Matysczak said.

If you think that college …. or earning a spot on the high school honor roll …. or even standing in front of a church full of people to read from the Bible as a lector aren’t compatible with Down syndrome, well, you probably haven’t met Quinn.

And, when you do meet her, you might think of her as a kind of miracle kid.

“Early intervention helps,” Scott Crispell said. “We’re big believers in therapy.”

Debbie Crispell said she and Scott were advised long ago to never let their daughter be “the star” of a class, but to repeatedly challenge her.

So Quinn takes regular classes, not special education. She reads books like “To Kill A Mockingbird” and “The Crucible” for school, and works on everything from manual dexterity to building vocabulary with her therapists at John Heinz.

To put it mildly, she makes good use of her time. And while she no longer takes gymnastics or soccer, as she did when she was younger, running is her sport. Her release. When she runs, she’s oh-so-happy.

“I like it,” she said of being part of her school’s cross-country team.

She participates in community 5Ks and 5-milers, too, with runner who range from preteens to senior citizens, where crossing the finish line first doesn’t matter as much as working toward your personal best.

At those races, early finishers often are kind enough to wait around and cheer for those who finish much later. And, when you see Quinn’s short stride and know that she stands under 5 feet, you might expect her to bring up the rear at those races.

But, you know what? At some of those races you’ll find Quinn’s doing the cheering for people who come in after she does.