Girls Elite Race Recap
Last fall, Lincoln freshman Alyson Churchill was having health issues. Her mother, Stacey, took her to Tallahassee doctors before the final diagnosis came- a hole in her heart. The congenital defect would need to be repaired and required a trip to Shands Hospital in Gainesville in January 2016. The doctors also gave her mother some surprising news- Alyson could continue competing until the surgery.
"I was a bit freaked out, "said her mother recounting the episode. Pointing towards Alyson and her identical twin Megan standing on the Seminole Mascot head painted on the Apalachee Regional Park course, she noted, "That's maybe why the two look so different. Megan is the taller one in the black." Megan is taller than her sister and except for the noticeably similar facial features she could be a fraternal twin. Megan finished 46th in a time of 20:33.2 on Saturday.
So in January, the family was off to Gainesville to have the surgery which required a titanium/nickel plate be inserted.
"Luckily, it didn't require open heart, "her mother added. And that would explain her speedy recovery. Alyson was back running and had a successful track season except for one thing- she suffered a stress fracture in April continuing a trend. Her middle school career has been peppered with injuries.
"That's going to be the hardest part, keeping her healthy," said Lincoln Coach Chris Sumner who attributes Alyson's fast, but not-too-fast middle school times to the injuries. "Alyson likes to do more than she is told. It's tough to hold her back."
Alyson recovered from that spring time stress fracture and was only able to run at the beginning of July. You would not know she had had such an incredibly challenging year watching Saturday's Elite race. Once that start gun went off, she took lead.
"I decided to go out hard and try to hold on," said Churchill, who is also a homeschooler who along with her sister, runs for her zoned school Lincoln.
Melbourne Central Catholic senior, Amanda Beach, had taken the lead from the gun in her past three races, but Saturday's race was entirely different. Churchill's dash to the lead was decisive and unrelenting and Beach could never get into her slip stream to match the diminutive freshman's pace.
"I'm used to being the one to take it out and it was somewhat surprising to see her take it out fast," said Beach who can be excused for being a little off her game. Her week had been in flux. She watched reports that Hurricane Matthew was projected to hit her hometown, Melbourne, and decided to make the trek to Tallahassee sans her team.
"It was on my mind all week," she said still thinking about the hurricane.
Churchill's aggressive front running opened a commanding six second lead over Beach, 5:21.2 to 5:27.9 by the mile that increased to 14 seconds by the first ascension up "The Wall."
By two mile, Churchill was still pounding away and increased her lead to 16 seconds- 11:12.1 to 11:28.4- but she was beginning to show signs of fatigue. The second mile split was 5:51.
As the course snaked its way over the next half mile, Beach began to look ahead at each turn as Churchill began to come into her sights. As they made their way towards "The Wall" for the second time Beach was gaining.
"I could hear my coach tell me to push harder and that I was gaining on her," said Beach. "I was trying to push hard the last mile and see if I could do it."
Churchill slowed over the last mile running 6:15 for mile three but her lead was too great for Beach to catch her. On the homestretch after the turn, Beach closed the gap, but it was a little too late as Churchill used the long downhill finish to propel her to the convincing win.
"I was trying to break 18, but I was happy with my time, "said Churchill of her winning time of 18:06.7." I'm excited to race against a lot of fast girls."
It was the second win of the week for the Churchill family. On Wednesday, sixth grade sister Paige won the Leon County Middle School Championships in 13:32.11.
In the girl's team race, Niceville and Steinbrenner had an epic battle. The two teams used similar strategies Saturday which left Erin Eubanks and Jayden Horne strategizing.
"Me and Jayden were running together and we saw all these navy jerseys running together. I was like 'Who are they?'," said Eubanks who finished 32nd in a time of 19:55.9. "Me and Jayden were like 'Go!' We decided to get up there. It was intimidating at first. I was like 'oh gosh!'"
"During the race, Erin and I had to communicate so much. We had little hand signals," said ninth grader Jayden Horne who finished 25th in a time of 19:43.3. "It was a lot of fun."
"I had a Steinbrenner girl with me. It kind of motivated me," said junior Ciara Croger who finished 26th in a time of 19:43.5. "On this last stretch over here, it was really difficult mind set wise, but at the same, it was really exciting to be up there with them. They're a great team."
The Eagles had a bit of a setback just before the gun. Hannah Schneidewind, the usual number two runner, was in tears and at the last minute decided not to run.
"We were being overly precautious, "said Head Coach Jamie Lafollette who ran only nine runners in the Elite race." We have our sights on the bigger prize."
Steinbrenner came oh-so-close, 61-70, but it was not to be. "It's just difficult to have your runners run well on the same day," said Head Coach Ladd Baldwin who had five of his ten runners PR on Saturday.
For Niceville, the times were a bit slower than last week's Bobcat Classic, but Lafollette was more than satisfied. "Abbie PRed. Ally had a sensational PR, "said LaFollette. " We still had five girls under 19:45. I'll take that any day."