Marist Girls Are Cross-Country Standouts

PRISCILLA GREEAR, Staff Writer

Published: September 23, 2004

ATLANTA—Marist senior Stephanie Uribe thought she’d take a break from swimming her junior year and give cross-country a try. She “kept running” and this year is co-captain and number two athlete on the state-title-holding team.

She’s found the fall sport is a delightful release from academic pressure at Marist that nourishes her spirit.

“You can just clear your head and forget about all the things that go on in your life and just relax for once,” said Uribe, whose sister, Carla, is an ‘02 Marist grad and state champion who now runs at Georgia Tech. “I love being in nature. God has blessed me with my running and being able to come out here everyday, and I thank him for it. We always pray before meets. God is definitely present with our team. We always include him.”

Uribe, petite and cheerful with shiny brown curls, sat on the athletic field Sept. 11 following the girls varsity race at Marist’s Double Dip Invitational, which drew 14 schools. Nearby her coaches monitored the races and cheered on other competitors. Other students, some wearing T-shirts reading “some runners hit the wall, we run through it,” relaxed and listened to rap, then Beethoven, under the Marist tent that proclaimed the girls team’s impressive record.

They have played in the AAAA class since 2000 and are the seven-year defending state champions of their division, having won in 1991, 1996 and 1998-2003, while the boys were state champions in 1995 and in 2002-2003. The program involves about 100 varsity and junior varsity girls and boys guided by head coach Shannon Hipp, assisted by coaches Kellie Eyre, Mike Burns and Angie Haley and community coach Roy Benson. The school’s athletic program in the 2003-2004 year got its fifth consecutive state Athletic Directors Cup, signifying it’s the best overall AAAA program in the state.

This week was a rough one for Uribe, and she wasn’t happy with her race time, but her focus is more on the end of the season. Competition motivates her to keep at it and reach her goals, but “I would say I run for myself and just happiness. There’s nothing like finishing a run and getting your best time. That feeling of self-satisfaction is incomparable; there’s nothing like it.”

As the rumor circulated that the North Forsyth High School girls team had won the meet with Marist second, co-captain and top runner Ena Leufroy, wearing a Los Angeles Raiders T-shirt, rainbow-striped bobby socks and flip flops, with a pony tail atop her head, offered the demoralized girls a no-nonsense pep talk as she circulated, offering water. “It’s about region and state. Get off your high horse. Be glad you got something. There are so many teams that never win.”

Coach Hipp, a 1994 Marist graduate, explained that even with such a successful program the team, particularly this year, never expects to win. Although they have veterans at the top, there are also new runners who are learning to train and race, and those who, she’s hoping, will have breakout seasons. They missed first place at the Double Dip by only four points, a narrow margin, and third place by only two points.

“That means we have to stay tough and really work hard to run smart. I think the competition is great at this time in the season. It helps everyone to stay honest and improve,” she said. “They put in a lot of miles over the summer, and we work on speed and endurance training during the season and work up to a peak during regional and state.”

Leufroy finished third at the state meet in 2003, and her finish at the Clara Bowl on Sept. 4 at Berry College helped lift Marist to a third-place overall finish in the AAAAA/AAAA division. Her true love is track, and her favorite event is the 800-meter, which she has won twice at the state level.

Leufroy, 16, has been running for 10 years. When her mother first asked her if she wanted to run, she said no. But she went with her older sister to a practice; the coach said she was really talented and started training her with the older girls.

“It is kind of like freedom … I like the empowerment,” she said. “It’s something that has been a part of me for so long it feels weird when I’m not doing it.”

She hopes to run track in college and noted how meeting her racing goals helps her to meet larger life goals.

Running “keeps me focused to look at my goals. For school it definitely keeps me motivated to study … If I suffer in my running, I suffer in my grades,” she said. “I just feel one with the universe and myself. It’s something that is just about me. I can go out there and tune everything else out and stay focused on what I want to accomplish.”

Lefroy added that there is a lot of camaraderie between varsity and junior varsity runners. As the longest-standing team member and captain “it’s really difficult to be in the middle of the circle stretching and I don’t have my older friends to look to, but I’m really excited about the team. We have some great runners and a lot of the girls have a lot of potential.”

Team chaplain Jenna Weldon said she tries to encourage the younger girls.

“I love the little kids because I was so scared of upperclassmen,” Weldon said.

To promote team solidarity, each runner draws the name of another runner to pray for and encourage during the season.

“It’s really nice to see junior varsity and varsity do it together. It creates a bond and helps them know somebody looks out for them,” Coach Hipp said.

Students also lead prayer, including any special intentions, during warm-ups and stretches. Before big meets they have a Mass, which Weldon and the boys chaplain, Alex Garrett, help organize. The chaplains also help organize a yearly service project, which this year will involve collecting donated medical supplies. Last year the team donated over 75 pairs of used running shoes to Nike, which breaks them down and recycles them into athletic flooring materials for needy schools and parks.

Coach Hipp, who is an English and creative writing teacher, runs herself 20 to 25 miles a week, sometimes with the students. Coaching “always keeps me inspired to run,” she said, adding that many of her writing students become inspired by the sport. “It’s amazing how much they write about running.”

Like her students, she loves the opportunity running affords to be outside, to think, or “zone out,” to clear her head and enjoy her gifts of health and of well-being.

“What I love about cross-country is that it is both an individual sport and a real, true team sport. The kids that run cross-country are among the best out there. They’ve learned discipline, the benefits of hard work, and they are incredibly supportive of one another. It’s great to be a part of a tradition of excellence in the sport that has been established here,” she said.

To reach for excellence, coaches have students alternate long, slow distance days with speed/interval workouts. Practice starts with a mile warm-up and stretching, followed by discussion of issues such as nutrition, racing or team-building strategies and then the main run. They are now running 30 to 45 miles a week, depending on the student’s background. Coach Hipp said that a key to improvement is to try to individualize runners’ training according to their needs. They also try to communicate with parents about how they’re eating and any health issues.

Weldon, the number six runner, feels blessed to be on the team and finds running improves her sense of well-being and ability to deal with struggles.

“I guess it’s God’s way of making me feel better about myself. I’ll keep running in the springtime because it’s something I love to do. It relieves my stress like no other. If I stopped doing it I’d probably be depressed.”

She runs four or five miles a day on her own year round, and likes going out to the trail on the Chattahoochee. But what about those days when running is just simply a pain? When “it’s hard to get out and run, I’ll work out, do some abs, or lift weights. If I really don’t feel good, I’ll take a nap.”

Her run that day was “really bad,” as with all the competition it was hard to pass other runners. “Even if I have a bad day I keep running. I really want to run state … and win a title,” Weldon said.

Her coaches inspire her.

“You see how successful they are, and you want to be like them. They really build you up that you can do it. They put themselves on your level, and they give you their personal experiences so you can conquer yours.”

Her father, Jim, said he appreciates the “very loving” environment of the team. “Everyone makes it here, and the coaches don’t take any of the credit. They give all of the credit to the families and the students, and it’s very nurturing,” he said. “It’s the best sports experience she’s had because of the generosity and caring of both the coaches and parents for all these kids.”

Her mother, Cheryl, who wore a button with Jenna’s picture on it and had her event number 62 pinned on her shirt, feels her daughter has “really blossomed at Marist” as a result of track and cross country.

“It’s been a really, really good experience . . . You get to meet a lot of kids who you wouldn’t have met otherwise,” she said. “Anytime you can relieve that tension and focus it into another use is a good thing.”

Not a runner, Mrs. Weldon was not familiar with cross-country before and has come to admire it. “I wish more people understood the athleticism and determination it takes.”