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| Scholastic Sports & RecFriday, September 19, 2008 11:06 PM CDT |
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NCHS's O'Leary looking to build on fast start to cross country season
NORMAL — Until everything gets sorted out at the Nov. 8 high school state cross country meet, the most one can do is speculate about who the best runners are as results pour in week by week. Through three races, Marie O’Leary has given prognosticators some impressive results to ponder. The unbeaten Normal Community junior won Saturday’s Springfield Lanphier Invitational on a hilly, muddy, 3-mile course in 19 minutes, 1.36 seconds, more than 55 seconds ahead of the runner-up. On the same course in 2007, eventual Class 2A state champion Nicole Benson of Bartonville Limestone ran 19:00.08. In a Sept. 6 showdown against Class A state 3,200-meter champion Kelly Curran of Central Catholic, O’Leary won by a minute in 18:20, a time only she (18:09) and Olivia Myers (17:39) have bettered in NCHS history. “I know she had a good summer of running so I expected her to start strong,” said coach Tom Patten, whose star placed 12th in last spring’s Class AA state 3,200 in 11:15.24. “I basically ran a pace I’m comfortable with,” said O’Leary, who is pleased with her start but expects foes to close the gap. In particular, O’Leary looks for Curran to shine later on. The two meet again in Tuesday’s 4 p.m. Intercity Meet at Maxwell Park. “I was kind of excited (to race her),” O’Leary said. “I’ve raced her a lot. I think she is really good and I respect her a lot.” Patten expects O’Leary to improve as well, perhaps into the low 17-minute range. It took 17:42 to earn one of the 25 medals awarded in the 2007 Class 3A state meet. “I don’t think there is any question that is what she is running for,” Patten said. “I think right now, with the kind of times she’s running and the way she looks, certainly she’s on track for it.” Among those helping her prepare are 91 teammates in NCHS’ co-ed program. “I’ve made so many friends from cross country,” O’Leary said. “I could never replace that. It’s the best thing. I can’t even describe it. I’m so glad I have a lot of really good teammates and they are really good people.” Patten says O’Leary is good at staying motivated. “She is extremely motivated and she feeds on hard work,” he said. “She wants to work as hard as she possibly can … sometimes from my perspective, too much so. My concern is injury and burn out.” O’Leary had a minor foot injury last fall, but has otherwise been durable. She trained 35 to 45 miles a week last summer. “I would take a day off about every other week on a weekend,” she said. “It’s just become part of my life.” She hopes that lifestyle continues in college. “That is one of my goals from junior high — to run in college,” O’Leary said. Expect her parents, Michael and Satomi, to be among those cheering her on. “They help me a lot,” O’Leary said. “They always motivate me. They tell me I can do it. They believe in me a lot.” O’Leary will look to make more believers in Saturday’s 46-team Peoria Notre Dame Invitational on the state meet course at Detweiller Park. E-mail this story | Print this story | Search archives | RSS Show comments |  Hide comments | Hide comments on all stories |
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runyon1996 wrote on Sep 19, 2008 9:03 PM:
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