IRONDEQUOIT N.Y. -- A local high school athlete isn't letting a serious stress fracture break his stride. His determination pushed him toward competing in the State Federation Cross Country Championships.

“I was up and coming, I was doing really well and I wanted to carry that on,” said cross-country runner Ryan Thompson. “The more I got better, the more people were like 'oh, wow, you’re doing good, keep going.'”

Thompson is a junior at Irondequoit High School. Determined to compete in the New York Federation Cross Country Championships; he was caught off guard by an enduring leg pain.

“I didn’t really think it was a big deal. I kind of stayed on it for like a month and then I was still limping and everything so I got an MRI (magnetic resonance imaging) and it was a stress fracture," Thompson said.

He suffered the stress fracture early in the 2016 season. It is considered one of the most common injuries among youth sports.

“It was in my lower femur, it was almost a full break,” says Thompson.

While missing months of practice and being on the track, he was able to get care from a sports medicine physician.

“This is probably one of the worse injuries I’ve seen,” says Dr. Katie Rizzone a sports medicine doctor who offers what the clinic considers comprehensive programs for runners with stress fractures and other common running-related injuries. “They can meet with a dietitian; they are meeting with physical therapist and athletic trainers that specialize in running medicine. We do gate analysis to really hone in what the causes of the injuries were, but also then how do we prevent it from coming back once they get back."

With Thompson going on to compete in the Federation Cross Country Championships this weekend, he hopes of finishing at top ten.

“Not really an expectation, I was further than what I was supposed to be, I wasn’t even supposed to run,” says Thompson. “I really want to get back to where I was.”