Friday, Nov. 14, 2008

Panthers Runner Makes History

Cross Country Journal

By John English

Contributing Writer

Colleyville Heritage cross country coach Lindy Lombard has hopes of raising the Panthers to a district powerhouse, and at least one runner has taken that to heart.

Alyssa Nielson won the regional cross country tournament last Saturday with a time of 11:12.3, more than 11 seconds faster than Abilene’s Jourdan Ellis, who finished in second place, and Lombard said she has high hopes for state as well.

"Aly definitely got the most out of her abilities on Saturday," Lombard said. "The climate was very different — very dry and unusually warm for November in the Panhandle, and you could see many kids from our area being affected by that. I have never seen Aly more exhausted after a race."

Lombard said she did very little coaching before the race, as she and Nielson had already pretty much worked out a game plan.

"Before the meet, we talked about her start, because she had a devastating fall at the beginning of the race last year," Lombard said. "This year, she played it very smart while still being aggressive. By the end of the first two and a half minutes, Aly was in the top five. By the first four minutes, she had the lead and never lost it. After the race, I gave her a slap on the back and told her, "good job." That’s all the coaching she needed at that point."

Lombard said that as far as she knows, this is the best a Colleyville Heritage runner has ever done, and said Nielson’s showing at region was important for the Panthers program.

"Aly’s success shows all of our runners what is possible when you make a total commitment to something and work to get better every day," Lombard said.

Lombard said she believes that the pressure actually will be lower for Nielson at the state meet.

"This is the first race this season in which Aly will not have a target on her back," Lombard said. "Since this is her first time at the state cross country meet, I think her goal is to go out there and run the race to the best of her ability. We will see what happens next."

Over at Grapevine, things did not go as well as hoped for the Mustangs cross country team, as the girls finished 20th overall.

Hillary Rosenjack was the top runner on the girls side with a time of 12:54.3.

On the boys side, Matt Summersgill finished with a time of 17:41.8.