Athletes Of The Week: Barlow Surprises Pre-State Field, Nichols Repeats As Conference Champ



GIRLS WINNER: Caroline Barlow - Senior @ Gulf Coast High School

While most runners across the state have seven or eight races under their belt, Caroline Barlow's season is just getting started. The Gulf Coast senior spent the summer in Colorado at the Team Prep USA camp, then went on some official visits at the start of the school year, and didn't actually race until the fourth week of hte season, September 21st at the North Port XC Invitational. Her dad and coach Paul Barlow says not racing until then allowed her to extend her aerobic base training well into September before needing to do any speed work.

"Even though we are only a month away from the State Finals, it feels like we've just started. Sge  has been working on continuing her base training and racing off of this base as long as possible. Just in the past few weeks we have added serious intensity and dropped the weekly mileage. She is really focused this year to perform her absolute best and she is doing the little things that matter to make a difference."

Barlow who finished 4th in the 1600 and 3rd in the 3200 at the state track meet wasted no time displaying her speed on the cross country course. She finished second at North Port in 18:33.20 then followed that up with a 7th place showing in the Girls Race of Champions at the flrunners.com Invitational with a time of 18:29.00. Coach Barlow says she posted those times while fighting a respiratory infection of some sort that just wouldn't go away.
 
"She ran the entire first race at North Port coughing and just didn't have the energy to run any faster. The following week at flrunners, the antibiotic was still in her system, and she just didn't feel quite right on race day. So taking the next weekend off to take the SAT was a blessing to allow her to heal a little more before racing again. Not sure what I expected her times to be in those first few races, but she wanted to break into the 17 minutes range and we have been gearing our workouts around those goals."

Those workouts consisted of hard days and recovery days incorporating track/speed workouts with fartleks and tempo work. Coach Barlow also took a page out of Coach Sommer at Estero's "coaching manual" and added parking garage repeats to substitute for hill work. A long day is added in at a defined pace without a known distance; the focus being on time and effort levels. Coach Barlow says she had an excellent ten day cycle going into Pre-State and was consistently hitting her workout times needed to finish around 18 minutes.

"We simply built her race plan around 5:45 splits. The pace was a little fast for the first mile, but with the adrenaline pumping and the amazing conditions of the course and weather, it was to be expected. Once the lead pack made the turn up the hill and started the second loop, Caroline and Emily began to separate from everyone and work together until just after the two mile.  From there she felt good and decided to push it a little harder. I didn't see her again until she had made the turn into the last 400 to the finish, but it was great to see her win one of the bigger meets of the season."

The win was Barlow's first since October 24, 2012 when she won the Collier County Championships. It couldn't have come at a more important time in the season either with the postseason right around the corner. Her time of 17:53.99 was a new personal best by 19 seconds (18:12.99 at 2012 Cross Country Finals) and more than  six seconds faster than runner-up Emily Edwards. She becomes only the second runner regardless of class to break the 18 minute for 2013, joining Karen Xiang of Nease who has the fastest time of 17:52.20. Those two along with Edwards and a strong group from Estero will battle it out again on the same Apalachee Regional Park Course on November 9th at the Cross Country Finals.Between now and then Coach Barlow and Caroline will build off her base and add more speed and form work. He says the goals are to push her time down as far as possible into the 17's and focus on running smart, and staying healthy.

Of course she would like to win a state title, but the competition in 3A is incredible this year as in years past, so it likely will come down to who is having the best day on November 9th.  She will run Foot Locker in the post-season to take a shot at qualifying for Nationals. Coaching Caroline and the other girls on this team have been an amazing experience that I wouldn't trade for anything. I feel like I have 17 daughters that I coach."

Caroline's Athlete Profile


BOYS WINNER: Travis Nichols - Senior @ Land O' Lakes High School 

Travis Nichols is the type of athlete you want on your team. Coach Kris Keppel says the senior has been dedicated to the program since his freshman year and is a model runner who never misses practice. This year, Nichols was appointed captain of his team. He leads workouts, makes sure his teammates understand and complete workouts, and prepares them for race day. It's a lot of things to handle, but after Keppel recently found out he had pancreatic cancer, it was a role Nichols embraced. Keppel says he has become one of the best captains he has had in his 20 years of coaching.

Nichols suffered a fracture in his foot during track season so his mileage hasn't been as high in years past, but that hasn't stopped him from dominating the competition. In his seven races this season, he has won three, finished runner-up, and finished in the top ten in the other two. His times have gotten better as the year's moved on as well. At the Holloway Park Jamboree (week two) he set a course record with a time of 16:20.10, and went onto run 16:05.06, 16:01.64, 15:55.80, and 16:05.00 in the next four meets. Consistency has been key and that continued at the recent Sunshine Athletic Conference Championship. He won his fourth meet of the year in a new season best time of 15:55.30. It was the second consecutive year he won the event, after finishing second as a sophomore.Coach Keppel says the Gators are familiar with winning conference titles.

"I'm not sure what brings out the best in him at conference. It  might be that the SAC is close meet to home (Pasco County) and he knows his competition well. Land O' Lakes seems to have a stronghold on the honor. An LOL runner has won individual honors seven of the last nine years."

The postseason is right around the corner and Keppel believes his standout senior will be up for the challenge. 3A is one of the most competitive classes in the whole state, but Keppel says the team's workouts have been smart and challenging lately, and should put him in good position fo a top five finish at states.

"He will go for a sub 15:40 at districts and then run hard enough to be in the top two at regionals. Then he will finish his high school career running at Apalachee Regional Park twice in November, racing at states, and the FACA Senior All-Star race. Our goal is to have him under 15:30."

How will he be remember when his time is done at Land O'Lakes? Coach Keppel says he is is right up there with the best.

"That's hard to answer talent wise. He's right there with Felix Soto and Lee Stephens, but does have the pure natural ability as Steven Bell. He is number one overall for what he brings to his team. He makes everyone better all around and is solid leader. He is a gentlemen and is very respectful."

Travis' Athlete Profile