A little over four years ago I learned of a talented youngster running around the halls of our middle school. For those of you who don't know me that well I have a bit of a reputation for trying to find the hidden diamonds of talent. She eluded me for some months when she got into high school because well... when you see her you never would think she was Division I material. Finally, I got to know Lizzie as her second-semester freshman teacher. Right around the same time as she entered my class our middle school PE teachers sent me all the current 9th grader's track and field unit stats. Her numbers were some of the best we have ever had coming into high school in the 100 and 200 dash. Hilariously, like many other state announcers since I couldn't get her last name right for about two months. By the way, it's pronounced Deh J-Waw. Lizzie is a brilliant lady. Over time she and I gained an appreciation for one another's sense of humor which both take a learning curve. As long as it took to learn each other's personalities, it was the opposite for Lizzie in our program. She instantly rose to the top of our roster in the long sprints. Lizzie was and is the best big time performer I have ever coached. Never have I had an athlete who could raise their level of performance over her god given abilities as high as Lizzie. It became routine to see Miss DeJoie walk down massive deficits in 4x400 relays exhausting every last drop of energy. All of her efforts culminated at sectionals with a massive effort to come back from 100 meters back only to be leaned out by .01 of a second to the state championship. Even after a strong freshman year, I felt like there was something more inside Lizzie that we had not yet seen. I figured I would ask her to join our XC team after we settled into the first week of school. Well... as fate would have it, she asked me on the same day to join the team herself. During the cross country, it took quite a bit of an adjustment for her to buy into training that is the polar opposite to sprinting. With all her talent we were still not sure if Lizzie was the right person for our top seven. After a lot of deliberation, we gave Lizzie a chance. Remember I told Lizzie is a gamer? Well, she dropped 2minutes and 10 seconds off her personal best to qualify individually to state championship two months after she first decided to take up the sport. Lizzie went on to crush the next track season qualifying in the 400, 4x400, and 4x800. Like clockwork, Lizzie brought our relays back heroically again running people down and sprinting mind boggling splits for her talent. The best thing we discovered is Lizzie showed a real talent in the 800 running a sub 2:18 split.
Coming into her junior season, the expectations were much higher for cross country. However, those expectations can be tough to handle. What you might not know is at Parkway Central we have young people who can sign up from the city of St. Louis to go Parkway Schools in the suburbs. The transfer program has been going on since the early 1980s. However, for students to participate, they must get up at 5 am to get ready for school and a bus trip that gets them to school just a short time before the first class of the day. Well, Lizzie also chose to do marching band which started even earlier before the first hour of the day. Getting up early was made even more challenging when you consider Lizzie often takes honors classes and worked a job in the evening after practice. Sleep... "what sleep?" The lack of sleep, balancing a demanding schedule, and training hard in cross country is not easy. So, in Lizzie's junior season she was going to give up and concentrate on track alone. After some soul searching, support from her teammates, and coaches Lizzie returned. Lizzie set a new personal best and went on to be one of the best runners in the St. Louis metro area. Due to the need to work a job Lizzie has never been able to train in the off-season. Making her progress from season to season even more remarkable. Last track season she really stepped into her own after overcoming some slight injuries requiring some alterations in training. After battling through being injured and losing a bit of confidence, she rallied emotionally like a woman on fire. In my opinion, she realized that she truly had a gift and had to refocus her efforts. As the season came to a close, Lizzie knew we had a chance to bring home a state trophy. A lot of our hopes were rested on Miss DeJoie's shoulders and because of this she had to run almost an abusive schedule. She would run the 4x800, 4x200, 400-meter dash, and 4x400 relay. Assuming we qualified in all four events meant Lizzie would have to run SEVEN races over the course of two days of competition. We did qualify in all four events. Lizzie showed her range and created history again earning four all-state medals. One in each event she contested. More impressively she ran a school record in the 400 dash and as our anchor ran the fastest 4x400 split in school history in her final race of the season.
At this point, there would be no turning back for Lizzie. She lightened her load this fall deciding to sacrifice marching band and working a job during the season. Freeing up her schedule allowed for time in the morning and evenings. We all know that rest is important. Immediately as the cross country season began it became clear Lizzie was an entirely different person. Running harder and stronger in practice than ever. During races, Lizzie seemed like a woman possessed charging to the front and running faster every week. I knew if Lizzie stayed healthy she would have a special season. Along the way, Lizzie got help from her teammates. Teammates in the past years like Kara Stark, Sarah Madsen, this year Abby Judd and Richelle Bain did many things to lift their teammate up. In fact, the Bain family opened up their household to Lizzie before most of the competitions this fall. The icing on top of the cake was Lizzie's top ten at the state cross country meet. Not bad for someone we thought was a 100-meter sprinter. Lizzie had a little extra motivation that day. I promised Lizzie if she were All-State and broke 19 minutes on the state course, I would shave her name into the back of my head. I thought the time would be a safe bet considering the challenging nature of our state course limits the chance of running a personal best. With Lizzie's PR just a few ticks about 19mins, I felt she would get close, but the remaining hair on my head would at least be safe for now. Hahaha well... that was not how Lizzie functions. She got to the three-mile mark and saw the clock. Inside she thought "oh I am going to make him pay up!" She powered home to the finish line and crossed in 18:58. So a new hair style was in my future. Lizzie is not done and get your popcorn ready because she has something special in store this spring.
