Chiles senior Ana Wallace was recently named Gatorade XC Athlete of the Year for the state of Florida. Blaine Thomas caught up with her to talk about the prestigious honor, the latest in recruiting, and more.
Wallace had a spectacular fall and opened eyeballs around the state when she became the first Floridian of 2017 to go under 18 minutes at the Buffalo Invitational. Proving that wasn't a fluke, the senior finished runner-up at Great American with a personal best time of 17:26.50.
She won her first ever cross country title, taking home the 3A crown as an individual and helping her Chiles teammates to the team trophy.
Two weeks later, she was third at Foot Locker South in 17:28.00 becoming the second girl from Chiles High School to attend the prestigious meet joining Lily Williams. Wallace finished 6th at Nationals in 17:48.10.
The mark was her sixth race under 18 minutes for the season. It was also the third fastest ever in San Diego by a Florida athlete behind only Olympian Jenny Simpson (Barringer) and Ashley Brasovan who won the event in 2007 and was second behind Jordan Hasay in 2008.
