Tough Finish at Nike Doesn’t Blemish Season
Young Cross Country Girls Gain Valuable Experience at National Race
By Zach Warner
The Southlake Journal
While some of the top running programs in the state finish their cross country seasons in November, Carroll has developed a habit of continuing competition into December.
The Carroll girls team and a representative from the boys team competed at the 5A state cross country meet on Nov. 14, as the Lady Dragons took third overall. However, the runners weren’t done. Several Carroll runners from the boys and girls teams competed in regional and national cross country races sponsored by Nike and Foot Locker.
Competing in the Nike Cross Nationals South Regional, held in the Houston area Nov. 21, the Lady Dragons finished first at the meet to advance to Nike’s national race Dec. 5 in Portland, Ore. It was the fifth time in the race’s six years of existence for the Carroll girls to reach the national competition.
"You can never complain about finishing your [cross country] season in December," said Justin Leonard, Carroll cross country coach. "You know you’ve had a great season if you’re still running at that point."
However, the Lady Dragons didn’t enjoy a strong showing at the Nike national race. Falling behind early and getting caught in the large mob of runners at the start of the race, the Carroll girls finished 22nd overall as a team at the meet.
A Lady Dragons team that has finished as high as third at the national race in 2005 and 2006 was disappointed by its showing this time around.
"We didn’t get out like we wanted to. Being in the top 22 in the nation is not bad, but it was a little bittersweet because we didn’t accomplish what we were wanting to do," Leonard said. "When you get to that level, everybody’s great and everybody’s a top runner You have to step out and get going from the gun. … If you don’t get out in the first 400 meters, you’re going to fall behind and get passed by a lot of runners.
"You could pass a hundred runners or get passed by a hundred runners depending on how you start out and whether or not you get caught in the pack."
Unfortunately for the Carroll girls, the latter was true this time around. Sarah Roe was the Lady Dragons’ first finisher, coming in at No. 128 with a time of 19 minutes, 53.90 seconds (though when discounting runners not attached to teams competing in the race, Roe finished No. 83). The rest of the Carroll team wasn’t far behind, but all were far behind their normal finishing spots.
The difference was like night and day between the Nike regional meet and the national race. At the Nike regional event, Carroll finished first with a low of 77 points to beat out 5A state champion Kingwood. The Lady Dragons’ Jessica Harper came in 11th individually, as all of Carroll’s top five runners finished in the top 24.
So why the great disparity in performance between the two races for the Lady Dragons?
"We only had one runner who had been to nationals before," Leonard said, who had three freshmen and two sophomores competing on the girls team. "That says a lot about Jessica [Harper], having been there a couple of times. The young runners were kind of star-struck somewhat, being their first time there and with the high level of competition all around them.
"We were disappointed but, at the same time, we were 22nd in the nation and it’s great to be there. It was good to be in that atmosphere and know that they can run at that level. It’s one of those things that with the young runners coming back, that will pay dividends later."
Get the full version of this article and full Southlake news at www.southlakejournal.com.
|
.jpg)
