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Harris, Walker go for the gold at state
By matthew peaslee
youngstown
Lakeview’s Eric Harris and Struther’s Catlyn Walker have taken two different routes to get there — but they’re both headed to the Ohio state cross country championship.
A new course for 2011, National Trail Raceway in Hebron is the home of the annual race to determine the state’s top runners.
“I’m looking forward to going down, doing my best and having a good time,” Harris said.
Walker already knows what to expect from the competition.
“I know they’re really fast,” she said. “I was in shock when I heard how well they run.”
Aside from just being fast, themselves, the pair has intriguing similarities. Well, it’s their first trip to state, they each finished in the top-11 at the Boardman regional, they both also run track and they each have mentors that are student-athletes at the University of Akron.
They are near polar opposites, though, when it comes to their orientation to the sport.
“Eric would tag along at practices with his older brother, Heath, ever since he was in the 4th grade,” said Lakeview coach Sean Voorhies. “He saw [Heath] train and run for miles and miles and, at a young age, he fell into the mindset that it’s what you have to do to be successful in cross country.”
Heath Harris, now a junior at Akron, has ranked high in the Mid-American Conference and went to the state meet as a Lakeview senior in 2008. Jokes surround about Eric beating his brother by one year, but ever since the younger brother hit high school, Voorhies knew it was only a matter of time before he’d qualify among the best. Heath has been a help to Eric, too.
“He’s called me and told me to have a fun time with it,” Eric said.”He’s definitely helped me prepare, but he’s set the bar high. All in all, he’s been very important in my running career.”
Although she has been running track since her freshman year, this is just Walker’s second year of cross country.
“Her first year running was freshman year,” said Struthers coach Scott Stoner. “She was coming into it more as a recreational activity. After track last year, she just made a commitment and she had a goal to make it to state.”
Walker admits that focus and determination paid off to become the first Wildcat runner to make it to the state meet. She’s trained 52 weeks straight, while giving up “garbage foods” and cutting down on the late-night hangouts with friends. But, another goal has been fresh in her mind all year. She wants to break the school record of 19:44 set in 2010 by current Akron runner Katelyn Ardale.
Forming goals and making sacrifices is really the name of the game in cross country. Voorhies likes to say “there are no timeouts” in the sport, and Walker says it’s helped her to become a better all-around person.
“Coach Stoner has taught us ethics,” she said. “Cross Country also teaches you to have respect for yourself and others.”