Another running gem from Nevada!
Tiffany Heflin

Photo by Pam Dietler

Who is she? She trains at Reno High School and leaves many of her training partners spent and winded. Her coach is Bruce Sussong and her club team is the Silver State Striders out of Nevada. Every fall she beats a path to various parts of California and mows down Golden State competition. She has finished second at the National Championships three years in a row and she’s just as gracious in victory as in (rare) defeat. Think you know who she is? Guess again.

By Joe Hartman

       The USATF Junior Olympics for cross country will be held in Spokane, Washington this Saturday. One of the stories will be the continuing quest of eight-grader Tiffany Heflin to win a national XC title. In similar fashion to her club teammate Marie (Mel) Lawrence, Tiffany has a string of three straight runner-up finishes at the cross country national championships. In her case, the national event is the USATF Junior Olympics. Both Marie and Tiffany will be sentimental favorites to many fans when their races begin within an hour or so of each other this coming Saturday. (Mel, of course, is the three time FootLocker Nationals runner-up.) Tiffany is scheduled to race at noon PST about the same time Marie is cooling down.

       Tiffany may not have won a JO title yet, but she gets closer each year. At the 2003 JO’s in Albuquerque, NM she finished second to Claudia Francis by 12 seconds. At Schaumburg, IL in 2004, Pleasanton Heat’s Nicole Hood (the Carondelet freshman) was three seconds faster. Last year’s finish was agonizing close as Amanda Ward of Team Idaho edged Tiffany at the wire by a half of a second. Tiffany has had repetitive success on the track as well taking 5th place in both the 3000 and 1500 meters in 2005 and following that up with another 5th place effort in the 1500 meters this year.

       Tiffany’s Youth Girls 4K race is one of ten national championship races that will be held at Plantes Ferry in Spokane. Approximately 2500 runners from around the nation are expected to attend. The temperature looks like it will hover between the mid-20’s and mid-30’s through the weekend in eastern Washington with a possibility of snow showers on Saturday.

       We asked Tiffany a few questions shortly after her arrival in Spokane.

DyeStatCal: What's it been like to be in the same club and have a chance to train with Marie Lawrence? What do you admire most about her?

Tiffany: She’s very nice and she’ll let you practice with her and she doesn’t ignore you. She’s always in a good mood. She helps me get faster because she lets me practice with her every Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday.

DyeStatCal: You've had a long run of consistency at a very high level. How do you view your three straight runner-up finishes? In Providence you handled the outcome like a pro and you must be extremely proud, but of the three races, is there one that you wish you could do over and maybe have a different outcome?

Tiffany: I’d like to do them all over again but especially Rhode Island because I was so close.

DyeStatCal: We've seen you run several times Tiffany, but in your words, how would you characterize your race approach and typical strategy? Will you do anything differently this year?

Tiffany: I don’t think I’m going to do anything different and I always try to go out fast.

DyeStatCal: Your dad has been always there for you. Not including the flights to nationals, give us an idea of how many miles your father drives in the course of a season to get you to the Pacific Association track and XC races.

Tiffany: All the races together? About 4,000-4,500 miles but counting practices too, about 10,000 miles a year.

DyeStatCal: Who are some of the people that you really look up to in the running world... coaches, elite runners, peers and/or teammates?

Tiffany: I look up to my coach Bruce (Sussong) and Mel and my dad and I look up to Jordan.

DyeStatCal: What high school will you be going to and do you have any idea what division it is in?

Tiffany: Lassen High is in Divison 4. Or Reno High which is in Division 1 (Nevada).

DyeStatCal: Thanks Tiffany and best of luck to you on Saturday.