SMHS CROSS COUNTRY
Smith smashes record, Julian bounces back from injury as duo qualifies for regionals
This is part one of a two part series covering the Rattler Athletes that qualified for Regionals at the District 29 Meet. Part two will go over Conner McGlothin’s journey to regionals Rattler runners Eleanor Smith and Aaralyn Julian both placed in the top ten at the District 29 Cross Country meet in Seguin with Smith taking first place and Julian taking ninth to advance to regionals.
Both will compete for a place and a shot to advance to the State Cross Country Meet.
“It is really exciting,” Smith said. “I was really close to making it to state last season. Hopefully we will accomplish this goal this year.”
Julian agreed with her teammate.
“It was a very exciting time, because this is the first time I made it out individually,” Julian said. “So it’s going to be fun.”
SMITH SMASHES
RECORDS FOR 1ST PLACE FINISH The school record for San Marcos Cross Country was set at 18:50, a mark that no one could seem to touch. But in her first meet of the season at the Westlake Chaparral Invitational, Smith broke the school record, running an 18:38.00.
But the record breaking wasn’t quite done for Smith. The sophomore runner went on to set the school record four different times during the season while consistently placing in the top ten, including winning the Runnin’ Rattler Invitational in September.
The newest mark set by Smith came during the district meet. Taking the gold medal, Smith set the new school record with a time of 18:05.08.
“It is motivating to know that I’ll be standing for this year on the record board,” Smith said. “It’s really nice to see my improvement, and it’s motivating to beat myself over and over again. To see that improvement and what practice has been doing, it is really encouraging.”
On being able to break the school record multiple times during the season, Smith mentioned that the tough work outs have allowed her to improve her time.
“Training has been getting harder and faster throughout the year,” Smith said. “So naturally you build up that endurance. I personally got faster by over 30 seconds, which is a [big] improvement especially for distance running.”
Smith is in prime position to qualify for the state meet, having one of the fastest times in the region.
Having run at Corpus earlier in the season, Smith talked about the key being to finish strong on the second lap.
“It is really important on the second lap of the race, that you push,” Smith said. “[The course] is mostly flat and that is where people will come up behind you and start to pass. So you have to kick early to stay ahead. You can’t wait till the last 100 [meters] to kick.”
The flatness of the Corpus course will also be a challenge after running throughout the Hill Country during the season.
“Corpus is a lot flatter, whereas the other courses we ran are really hilly,” Smith said. “The grass in Corpus can be really thick in some places, which makes it hard, especially if you don’t have spikes.”
JULIAN REBOUNDS FROM INJURY TO QUALIFY FOR REGIONALS Julian’s season almost took a turn for the worst when the junior suffered a hamstring injury in the middle of the season.
After both healing and still racing, Julian powered through for a ninth place finish to qualify for regionals.
Despite the difficulty in the recovery process, Julian has been able to push through the obstacles.
“I took a week off, so it felt like I was out of shape,” Julian said. “But I have been recovering well and pushing through it.”
Julian has also been able to improve her time from last season. After running a 21:03.08 during the district meet last season, Julian improved her time to run a 20:35.78 at this year’s meet.
A reason for Julian’s time improvement has been a change in workouts.
“This season, I have gotten a lot faster,” Julian said. “We have been doing more mileage [this season]. I have been forced to be faster and run for longer. It has really improved my times and my cardio.”
Despite not running at full strength during the Rattlers trip to Corpus this season in preparation for the Regional Meet, Julian now has a firm grasp of what the course is like.
“The last time at Corpus, I wasn’t running to my fullest due to my injury,” Julian said. “So now I have a feel of the course, and I can go way faster this time with my injury feeling better.”
Julian also likes the flatness of the course compared to the hilly running course in the area.”
“I like the Corpus course a lot because it is flat and there are no hills unlike the district meet,” Julian said. “It is going to feel a lot faster.”
Competing at Regionals, Julian hopes to set a new personal record while also increasing her chances of being recruited.
“I’m looking to get a [personal record] and look good for colleges,” Julian said. “That way I can start looking into colleges for my running career. … I’m just going out there to have fun.”
The 6A Region IV Cross Country Meet will take place Monday Oct. 21 at the campus of Texas A&M Corpus-Christi. The girls will run at 10:30 a.m.
cmcwilliams @sanmarcosrecord.com Twitter: @ColtonBMc
