|
If there has been a common theme this fall, it is that summer training equates to better cross country seasons. 
Oakville sophomore Melissa Brown is another example of how that meme holds true. Brown experienced a modicum of success as a freshman, improving enough as the season progressed to qualify for the Class 4 state meet. She ran a season-best time of 20:34 at sectionals to finish 22nd overall. “I think back now, and I thought I was doing well because I had never run before,” Brown said. “We got down to the last couple of meets and I knew I had a shot to get out of districts and sectionals.” At the state meet, Brown was pushed and fell as she tried to navigate the sweeping curve at the top of the starting hill. She had positioned herself in the top 50 through those first few hundred meters, but she was unable to recover her position or her tempo. Brown took 143rd with a time of 21:10. That was the motivation she needed to attack the offseason. She added to the desire with a pair of fifth-place finishes in the 1,600- and 3,200-meter runs during track districts, which prevented her from proceeding in the postseason. “I was really disappointed with fifth place, but I knew I had worked hard, and that’s all that mattered,” Brown said. “And, I still had three more years.” Brown started off her second cross country season with a bang. First she won the Lutheran South Invitational, and then she crushed her PR with an 18:30 for third place at the Forest Park Cross Country Festival. It was an improvement of more than two minutes from her freshman best. Forest Park was a fast day for nearly all participants, but Brown acknowledged a competitor with helping her set such a fast pace. Eureka freshman Hannah Long blazed to a meet-record time of 18:00, and Brown did her best to match her. That performance let Brown know that the summer training had paid off, and that she was a better, faster runner than her freshman season. “I knew Hannah Long was good, but I didn’t know I’d be able to keep up with her that long,” Brown said. “And the first place at Hancock showed that my hard work has paid off.” Since Forest Park, Brown has three runner-up finishes and a pair of victories – at Hancock and at the Parkway Central Invitational. Most recently, she was within a minute of Long’s victory performance at Jefferson Barracks for the Suburban West Conference meet and 20 seconds ahead of third place. Oakville coach Bill Zimmerman said he has tried to keep her progressing by having her do the same workouts as the rest of the team, only more. “I try encouraging her to do the work everyone else is doing but to do more of it and at a faster pace,” Zimmerman said. Zimmerman said he noticed during a week of voluntary workouts in July that Brown had made huge strides with her ability to crank out fast miles. He thinks the rest of the girls noticed, too. “She started the first part of June so the rest were so far behind they did notice, especially the freshman,” Zimmerman said. “If you don’t get your base in over the summer, it’s too late to catch up. We won’t know until next summer if it rubs off on the returning girls.”
Brown ran the 7.4 mile Dipsea Trail Run near San Francisco, Calif. The race winds through the redwoods and includes some challenging stair climbs. She finished 550th out of 1,600 total competitors, and she had the 210th best time, which qualified her for a spot in next year’s race. “Once I got back from that, I figured maybe I should starting putting in more miles,” Brown said. Brown started logging her daily miles, around five to six miles a day, and she received some reinforcement from the Big River Running camp. Working out under the direction of Ben Rosario helped cement to Brown that she was working in the right direction. “It basically told me that if I wanted to get better, I had to keep running,” Brown said. “I learned you have to keep healthy, and be dedicated, and stretching, and that eating the right food is really important.” The message also fell right in line with what Zimmerman tries to preach. “Most cross country coaches will tell you the three most important things are June, July and August, and that’s pretty well proven out,” Zimmerman said. The fact that everything clicked for Brown so quickly is impressive. Zimmerman said Brown’s rise is even more spectacular when you factor in her brief exposure to the sport. “This has all happened in 13, 14 months,” Zimmerman said. “That makes it even more amazing when you think about a lot of these kids start in junior high or sooner.”
|
Brown said she didn’t really have a plan when it came to her summer regiment. She just set out to run to Walgreens or some other target destination down Telegraph Road. Just as her summer training was beginning, Brown said she received a reminder of how important the miles would be.