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DyeStat Features
Renee Gunning -
a series on the development of a distance star
Part 3
Gunning comes out blazing in her senior year
by Don Rich, publisher of DyeStatPA
It was the fall of 1999. Cooler temperatures. Fast courses. And a burning deside to have her best season ever. And like her District One counterpart, Dan Coval, she won every race in sight, including Steel City, and Allentown, averaging an incredible 17:30. And the streak continued through the District One Championships at Lehigh University. The meet was run on a redesigned course because of construction where the start always had been located. Gunning took it out and posted a 17:42.57 over friend Josianne Lauber (17:55.81), who had just committed to attend top D1 program North Carolina State.
Then States, and the fulfillment of a dream she had had since she started running in 9th grade, a state championship. Better yet, the race was to be held at Lehigh, because of scheduling conflicts with both Penn State and Bucknell, other sites used for the PA XC championships.
"States was stupid. It broke my heart."
The race was similar to her freshman District performance in that she never finished the race. This time though, she knew something was wrong before the race even started.
"I didn't feel well that morning, and I knew it right away." Most observers remember seeing her lead to the mile, but then start losing that lead to Josianne Lauber."
(Editor's Note: I remember that it looked as if Renee was struggling near the mile. What I will never forget is as Josianne is just starting to go around her, she turns slightly and makes a motion toward Renee to go with her. It is one of the most incredible displays of sportsmanship and friendship I have ever seen during competition. The others have been in XC as well, with runners actually stopping during races to help those who have gone down. It is an amazing sport.)
Josianne would continue to pull away, with both she and Renee disappearing over a hill. Lauber would emerge several minutes later, a clear and easy victor. Gunning never did. She had collapsed around the two mile mark.
Renee now believes that the season was simply too long. She was fatigued. And she also believes she was fighting a stomach virus that day. "I cried for a week, but my friends and my family helped me. But the biggest help had to be Josianne. She is the best sport in the world. We have been on each other's side for the past two years. I am so happy that she won. She was actually crying because I didn't finish. And she had just won the state championship."
Gunning didn't have much time to get over the disappointment, however, because PA coach Tim Hickey would invite her to the Mid-East Championships, an annual event in which PA's top senior XC boys and girls compete against top runners from Ohio, Michigan, Indiana, Illinois, West Virginia, and sometimes, other states. Renee and Josianne were on the team and Renee recovered quickly, finishing seventh in the elite field. "I was scared a little because my parents weren't there. But Josianne was. And I also met my future Villanova roommate, Rebecca Mitchell, from Chicago."
Next was a final crack at the national elite scene with the Footlocker Northeastern US XC HS Championships at the oldest XC course in the US, Van Cortlandt Park in New York City. "It was not a good race. I was mentally tired. I was too cautious, scared, and worn out. But I did get 32nd with my 19:18." (Only the top 8 go on to the Footlocker National Championships.
Gunning rested for the indoor season, determined to make her final two campaigns count. And she started to look at the national results to see how she compared. "I was on DyeStat 24/7. I got serious."
She also did something during her final indoor season she had not done before. In addition to the 4 x 800, she ran individually, too. A week before States, she ran the mile, and won with a 5:00. "I was amazed."
Pressured (slightly) into running the event at States in State College, she won her first State Championship with a 4:58.63. "My Mom threw green sparkles after my win. She had green sparkles at XC States, too, because I was the favorite to win. So I was a little afraid it would all happen again. But I ran a smart race. It was the first time that I had run negative splits." (2:32/2:26)
Then, in the elite PA field assembled for the 4 x 800, she ran a 2:14 split and just narrowly missed catching the anchors from Nazareth Academy and Conestoga, two of the top 4 x 800 teams in the nation.
She wasn't finished. "I begged my coach to take me to the Nike Indoor Classic in Indianapolis for the mile." There, she would face the likes of California's Alejandra Barrientos (1st: 4:48.96) and Wyoming's Alicia Craig (2nd: 4:53.75), and her new roommate, Rebecca Mitchell (10th).
"I would see their names on the computer. I never really considered myself at that level. But after States, my confidence was back up, and I knew I was going to be a Villanova runner. But the most amazing thing was, they knew who I was."
The race plan? Negative splits, of course. "Unfortunately, that's where I learned that they all had the same plan as I did." But she PR'ed with a 4:57.69 for 5th place.
There would be no rest for the weary between Indoor and Spring track. Renee was determined to run smart the entire season, so she would have something left for the big meets at the end, including States.
"I ran what I had to run. Sometimes that was four events during a dual meet. But I just did what I had to do. I did break 5 at a few duals, that was a crazy thing to do."
What it showed was that she had more speed to give, and just needed a race to show it. That race came at the country's oldest T&F meet, the Penn Relays.
"It was in front of my family, and it's like a home meet for Villanova."
Gunning ran a tactically sound race, joining and running at the back of the lead pack before powering through the final 400 to a PR 4:54.83. "I still can't believe that I won that. I had run the 4 x 800 anchor earlier."
Gunning now considered herself truly a national caliber runner. "Gina (Villanova's women's coach) was so happy. She ran up to me. It's the first time I have cried at happiness. My coaches cried, too. And it's so amazing to me that I'm wearing the same gold watch that Olympic medalists have."
Gunning was ready to go for another state championship.
In the preliminaries the day before the finals, she ran a controlled 5:04.11 for 1600. She had had preliminaries in the 4 x 800 earlier in the day, and then the finals of the 4 x 800 scheduled for the next morning.
But that wasn't all that was on her mind. She wanted to double in the 1600 and the 3200, because she considered the longer race to be her event.
"I decided it was wasn't fair to my body. I was in tears when I went up to the officials to scratch (from the 3200). I had run a 10:35 during the season, and was seeded first. But I owed it to my teammates on the 4 x 800 to be my best. They really are my best friends."
In the trials on Friday, Pennridge had run the fifth fastest time. So Renee was a little worried that they would be there challenging in the finals. After all, the field included national power Conestoga, plus Pennsbury, Villa Maria, and other great 3200 relay teams.
"But when I was on the line, waiting for the baton, I saw my coach and my mom, saying 'go for it.' So I did, running a 2:11 split and getting second in 9:14.90" (to Conestoga's 9:10.09).
Each member of the Pennridge team had PR'ed by an incredible three seconds each. "I saw my teammates jumping up and down. They were so happy."
In the afternoon, the rain picked up. But Gunning was ready. Knowing she was the only one in the field to have broken 5:00, she ran with the pack for the first 800, before opening it up and finishing with a 4:53.30, and her second state championship of the year. "I didn't sleep a wink. I even ate junk food."
Another brief break before heading to another national meet. Only this one would be the one to close the book on her high school career. She selected the Golden West Invitational in Sacramento, California, a meet that attracts many of the country's elite.
"The race really started at the 800. I knew from Nike (Indoor) that everyone's plan was to run a negative split. It was all strategy."
Well, Renee got to see a variation on the strategy as Alicia Craig took off a little before the 800, winning with a 4:50.3h. "I was back in the pack and passed five girls almost at once. I wish I would have left a little earlier. I was catching her the last two laps."
It was a split of 2:21 (negative, of course), a second place finish (seeded sixth), and a PR for the mile of 4:54.3h. "My arms were in the air. Penn was exciting, but this was the highlight of the year." In the field were California's Sara Bei, and 1999 Footlocker NE XC Champion Melissa Donais.
It was time to take a break and get ready for Villanova. A 2:11, 4:53 and 10:35 had capped her high school career.
"It was a hard decision not to go to Foot Lockers (the outdoor meet at Raleigh NC the following week), but I needed a break.:
NEXT: Gunning for Gunning. The Recruiting of a Distance Star.
Return to Renee Gunning series index
