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Danielle Robberson
(Yreka) Improved soph has Section Finals race her first Varsity win ever
- Coach Pam Borg talks about her young star and note the improvement since
last year!!!
Danielle Robberson is a spunky, delightful, enthusiastic sophomore. She
is in her second year of cross country. I recruited her the summer
before her freshman year. I knew she played soccer and was an avid
bicycle rider like both of her parents. During her freshman year of
cross country it didn't take her long (3 races) before she let everyone
on the team know that she was going to be a force to reckon with. She
ran as our solid number 4 girl for most of the season until the State
Meet where she became our 3rd runner with a fine finishing time of
20:37. That meet fueled her quest to improve. She ran everyday during
the summer and attended the Lake Tahoe Running camp to gain knowledge
and inspiration from the coaches and other runners. This year she has
been running in the shadows of fellow teammate , Lauren Quinn ( who
finished 7th at sections). Together they have dominated the league and
local invitationals. However, the Sections meet was Danielle's
opportunity to let loose and show what she was capable of doing.
The race had Janessa Hoppe taking it out hard over the first mile,
crossing in 5:50. Danielle got caught behind traffic at the start and
used the first mile to catch up to Lauren as both crossed the mile in
6:24. At the mile 3/4 mark, Janessa was 20 seconds ahead of Danielle
pushing up a long hill. At that point I told Danielle to stay close to
Janessa because she was showing signs of struggling. Coming down the
hill passed the 2 mile marker, Danielle moved within 15 seconds of
Janessa. As they approached the finish with about 1/4 mile left it was
obvious that Janessa was in trouble. Her body was wobbling from side to
side as she struggled to keep her legs moving. Then Danielle appeared,
only 10 seconds behind. As she passed by me for the last time, I yelled
to her, you've got to believe me, Janessa has hit the wall, you can get
her...go now!. As Danielle turned past the Oak tree and onto the track,
she realized that she could win the race, she stumbled for a second and
then sprinted past the laboring Janessa to get the win. Janessa fell
inches from the finish line but managed to get to her feet long enough
to cross the finish in 4th place. I was very proud of Janessa for
finishing the race, that took a lot of courage. Fortunately for
Danielle, she was able to capitalize on a huge opportunity. She finished
in 19:52. Her time last year as a freshman was 21:28 ( not too bad of
an
improvement ). I'm looking forward to seeing her run at the State Meet
as I'm sure she can drop her time even further and place in the top 20.
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