They don't have a secret hand shake, but they do have nicknames for one another. Kaitlin a HUGE fan of former Olympia and NFL star Chris Johnson is" K-Rod" or "CJ" while Lauren is known as "LT" for Lauren Theresa or NFL star Ladanian Tomlinson. Meet the Rodriguez sisters. Or should I say twins? Creekside's dynamic cross country duo is 2/3 of a set of triplets. Kaitlin says she wouldn't have it any other way.
"I love being a triplet. Tyler my brother was never really into sports. He was into golf for a little while, but now he is into the stock market and making money. My brother and sister are so nice and we get along so well. We are always hanging out together, joking around, and having a great time. Running with my sister has made us so much closer."
The Creekside seniors had different introductions to the sport of running. Lauren loved it from the get go while Kaitlin didn't want anything to do with it. The duo have grown leaps and bounds since those elementary school days.
"My sister was the one who started running. She would run the mile in PE and beat all the boys. She was in love with running and would want to do road races. Myself, on the hand I hated it. Since Lauren started running my mom made me join and they kept forcing me to run because they thought I could improve and get faster. I would always tell my mom if your mom knew you hated the sport would she make you do it? She would always just try to be positive and encourage me."
Both Lauren and Kaitlin considered themselves "tom boys" back in the day. The two loved sports , loved the outdoors, and loved to play manhunt. They were so bold they would even jump in the area retention pond retrieve golf balls and sell them back to the golfers. Kaitlin says Lauren's boyish days only lasted a couple of years, but she still considers herself one of the guys.
"Tomboy was a perfect description of me. I hated wearing dresses and girly stuff. I was bad like I wouldn't wear shorts shorter than basketball shorts and I wouldn't wear tank tops or skirts. I am still obsessed with football and Chris Johnsons (CJ2K). He is my hero."
Lauren says despite her tough persona Kaitlin hated running so much that she used to cry about it. Her natural ability finally gave in though and she decided to keep running. She says it was in high school when Coach Frank started coaching them that Kaitlin buckled down and became a fan of the sport.
"He is an amazing coach we are very fortunate to have someone like him coaching us. He instantly clicked with Kaitlin and made her love running. Now, she will get upset about having to take a day off of running because she loves it too much. I tried to get her involved by just running with her but I know she doesn't do good with pressure on her so I was never too hard on her. I kind of just had faith she would come around and run with me."
For the past five years the girls played flag football up until Lauren broke her tibial plateau located in her knee. That sidelined her for her freshman track season and served as a wake-up call that it was time to stop rough housing and get down to business.
"We saw that we had too much on the line to keep being fearless and getting roughed up by the boys. That was like our wakeup call. We realized those kind of things really affected our team so now we try to make smarter decisions.
Lauren and Kaitlin are currently the top two runners on the Creekside cross country team. Kailtin recently won the conference meet while Lauren placed fourth. The two are inseparable both on and off the course. Kaitlin says running with her sister is like running with her best friend.
"We are always together and I try to run with her in every workout. We push our teammates and they push us a lot. Every workout there is at least four girls on the team running with us. We try and push each other, but at the same time stay in a group and all run tough. Our coach always says if someone falls off its our own fault. He tells us to run with our hearts and for the other six people that are running with us."
Lauren agrees having her sister push her has helped her become a better runner. During a race being on the same page and knowing what the other is thinking is an advantage as well.
"That really helps. Without talking to each other we know how to hunt down a certain runner in the race. We can feel how the one is feeling in a race so we know when to surge and when to keep the pace even so we can stick together for as long as possible."
The two have no particular goals for the postseason just to improve and work together as a team. They are not worried about other teams, but having a strong five and seeing where that takes them. Where will life after high school take the duo? Recently, the sisters went on a visit to the University of North Florida and came away impressed. Lauren says they don't have a decision in mind yet, but they know they want to stick together.
"We don't know where we want to go. We are trying to consider every opportunity open and have open minds. All we know is we want to stick together if possible. It would feel so weird and empty to be separated. We have been together since we were born."
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