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Behind Gallagher, Wildcats roll
Regan Hill
Jordan Greene (left) and Lindsey Bryan jockey for position.
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Published: October 7, 2009
UNION GROVE - Lake Norman's Jenny Gallagher showed her versatility Tuesday at the Iredell County Cross Country Championships.
After winning the meet by a large margin with a time of 20 minutes, 50 seconds, she stationed herself near the finish line and became a cheerleader, urging her Wildcat teammates to finish strong.
Finish strong they did, with Lake Norman runners capturing the top three spots and seven out of the top nine en route to a convincing victory Tuesday.
The course was a challenge for the runners, with several steep hills that had to be traversed.
"The course was a tough one," Gallagher said. "There were a lot of hills. It was a slow course."
The Wildcats finished with 17 points, easily outdistancing Mooresville (64 points).
West Iredell (75) was third place, Statesville (118) took fourth and South Iredell (140) was fifth.
Lake Norman's first-year coach Kathleen Scott was pleased with the effort of her squad, especially Gallagher.
"Last year, Jenny decided to race instead of just running," Scott said. "Mentally since then she has put herself fully into the race. She has the confidence and she also puts in the training."
Scott is also very impressed with Gallagher's leadership abilities.
"She's probably one of the most mature on our team," she said.
She always tries to include everybody. She's a cheerleader. She's a team leader. She does everything for us."
A pleasant surprise for Lake Norman was the outstanding performance of freshman Sabrina Heck, who finished second with a time of 21:57.
Heck, in her first year of competitive running, was all smiles afterwards.
"For me, it's all about having fun and doing my best," she said.
Scott is thrilled to have the services of Heck, who contacted the coach over the summer and asked about running for the Wildcats.
"Sabrina loves running," Scott said. "She just has to learn how to race right now. As she learns, she will get even better and better."
Gallagher, who won the meet for the second consecutive year, gave credit to Scott, who's in her first year as head coach after several years as an assistant.
"She's really pushed us this year," Gallagher said. "She doesn't just push us physically, but mentally as well, helping us with our goals and our race strategies."
In addition to those two, Taylor Sweet (third), Nina Mastandrea (fifth), Kelsie Rubino (sixth), Diana Jaroszewski (seventh) and Kaitlyn Ferguson (ninth) all finished strong for the Wildcats.
Mooresville's Emily Nesbitt took fourth place with a time of 22:09.
Other top-10 finishers were West Iredell's Trista Byers (eighth) and North Iredell's Lindsey Bryan (10th).
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