As the defending state cross champion, Samantha Nightingale made it known that she was focusing her senior campaign on the national stage.
Nightingale’s stepping stones included setting an early PR and reclaiming the Class 4 title. That’s when the Blue Springs South senior could turn her attention to the postseason and trying to return to the Nike Cross Nationals and improving on last year’s 19th-place finish.
She accomplished every goal including an 8th place finish Saturday at Nike nationals in Portland, Ore. For those accomplishments, Nightingale has been named thehttps://mo.milesplit.com girls cross country runner of the year.
See the 2011 All MoMileSplit.com team.
Nightingale qualified for the national race with a runner-up finish (18:09) at the Nike Cross Regionals in Terre Haute, Ind., to Naperville Central’s (Ill.) Amanda Fox.. The two battled back and forth through the second half of the race before Fox clipped her by a stride at the finish line but it was Samantha who edging Fox when the two faced off again on Saturday.
“I was doubting myself, but it’s OK because I qualified, and that’s what I really wanted,” Nightingale said.
Nightingale also set a course record on the West Virginia state course with a 17:32 to win the Young Women’s division of the Cross Country Coaches National Youth Championships following her high school season..
Prior to that she defended her Missouri Class 4 title with little challenge, winning by more than 20 seconds in 18:05. Nightingale now has two fourth-place finishes and two state championships in four tries on the state course. It’s that consistency that Blue Springs South coach Ryan Unruh said sets Nightingale apart from other top competitors.
And while Nightingale could’ve set back and let her previous finishes do the talking, Unruh said he helped make sure Nightingale continued to remain focused on 2011.
“The first thing we said at the start of the summer is, ‘We’re not going to talk about 2010,’” Unruh said. “I hung a sign in her locker that said, ‘Practice like a state champion today.’”
Nightingale attacked her workouts with the same competitive approach she uses on race day. Unruh said one area where Nightingale naturally excels is knowing when and how to recover.
“Really talented runners and competitive runners know when to get recovery in,” Unruh said. “In my opinion, a lot of elite kids work too hard.”
Nightingale’s hard work paid off with an eye-popping 17:15 at KC Metro. There was a new Ray-Pec course layout which helped Nightingale improve on the 17:59 she ran as a junior, but there was no denying that Nightingale had done something special with that performance – the 15th-fastest time this year by a high school runner. Nightingale said it will be one of her lasting memories from her senior season.
“I think that’s a big highlight,” Nightingale said. “I was told if I ran in the guys’ race I would’ve finished 60th and been on every guys’ team but the top three.
“You’re always looking for a PR, and having it out of the way let me focus on the state series.”
When Unruh saw Nightingale drop such an impressive time, he was a mixture of emotions and unsure what it might mean for her pursuit of competitive state meet and Nike performances.
“I was thinking, ‘(Uh-oh), I hope she doesn’t peak too early,’” Unruh said. “But I was excited because I knew what she was doing was good stuff. We were really working for this weekend.
“Last year she was fried by time the national championships came around. This year, we feel she’s going there to compete, not just be happy to get a bag and some shoes. She’ll run up in the pack and see what happens.”
