Milton: Could you tell me how the race went for you?
Kelly: Sure, I got my team lost during the warm up, but we had some extra time, so after we saw the guys start, pre-race jitters were gone.
Kelly: The first mile it was pretty much five girls including Jackie, my teammate Gus, and I. And I had no idea what to expect.
Kelly: The first mile I remeber being 6:27 i think, and at about 1.25 I threw a surge, my coach wanted me to work on racing myself.
Kelly: The second mile, after every turn I would try to do a surge and return to pace on straight aways, I remember hearing about 12:10 being called out at the two mile.
Milton: (wow....nice pick up)
Kelly: The next half mile I continued surging here and there, then someone let me know I was at 16 something with about a half mile to go.
Kelly: The man who said that was standing on the big hill, and I was beginning to feel that I was pretty spent. My team likes to warm up on the course backwards and I recognized how close the end was. seeing the three mile mark, I couldn't even distinguish the numbers on the clock, so I ran the rest I had passing by my coach and then heard a 18:50 called out across the line. I really wanted to break 19:30. I got to see Augusta cross almost beating my time from last year, and Laura making a much improved time.
Kelly: We made 5th, 3rd and 1st for high school, i am really looking forward to the prospects of us going to state for the first time as a team.
Milton: Has your team ever been to the state meet?
Kelly: No indeed, last year, one of our girls broke her leg at districts and we lost the tie breaker for the trip to state by one point, that was the hardest lesson we could have learned about the importance of all seven runners, not just the top five.
Milton: Along with you and your team, do you think your team has a shot gaining the state crown?
Kelly: It's such a contrast, last year, and our track season. some of our new runners couldn't compete at citrus, so the possibilities are grey. I believe Coach T will bring us as close to it as possible, as long as we follow our training, peaking and all of the physical aspects are taken care of. I cannot say that we do or do not have a chance at this point
Milton: Augusta (your teammate) took third at the Showdown and is making huge drops on her times and broke your 3200 meter freshman record, how big of a suprise has she been to your team?
Kelly: She came on to the team determined and really challenged our senior, Laura Hale. I cannot say she surprises me, but I can say she pleases me with her dedication. I expect her to make leaps and bounds everyday. Having faith in the program is the only way I or she could have success.
Kelly: There is always something to be said for running smart, and pacing is something she has really been working on. She uses her smarts in her running like we all try to do.
Milton: Have you and Coach T discussed any big meets planning to do this fall for cross country?
Kelly: Actually, our schedule is pretty tentative, funds are also very tight, but I can say Great American is a hope.
Kelly: We all have our favorite courses, but we all trust he'll sign us up for the most beneficial races.
Kelly: And the most feasible, traveling gets rough, even though we are in central Florida, some meets down south can be hard to finagle.
Milton: Final question.....Will you be defending your title for the Citrus Summer Showdown next year?
Kelly: We don't do that many races out of season, but I do think Citrus Summer Showdown will stay on our summer base schedule for quite a while, it has been a great introduction to the new runners of what cross is and why we all love it so much, and it is also a great check point for mid way through base season.