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DyeStat Cross Country 2000
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National Finals |
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Preview
Julia Pudlin has a magic season that carries her from Pennsylvania to the Magic Kingdom
By Don Rich
PHILADELPHIA PA -- Julia Pudlin, a junior at The Baldwin School in suburban Philadelphia, broke a course record in her first invitational of the year. It was a course record that many saw, with good reason, as solid and reasonably safe. Philadephia's Belmont Plateau is home to The Briarwood Classic on the third Saturday of each September. The course boasts a rather nasty incline known as Parachute Hill. It's rocky, washed out surface greets runners on a sudden left hand turn as they approach the half-way point of their race.
Saturday, September 16th, runners were greeted
by a nearly perfect day. But early in the season, good times and course records
are generally the exception. This was a major exception.
Running alone, Julia cruised home in 18:31.7 in the Championship heat, breaking
the 1998 record of 18:36 which had been set by local favorite and national
talent Sheila Klick, formerly of Archbishop Prendergast, and now running for
Villanova. To make the moment even more memorable for Julia, Sheila saw
the performance, and was among the first to congratulate Julia.
But it was on September 23rd that Julia had another breakthrough race that enhanced both her growing national reputation, and her growing confidence. She finished a strong third at the Great American Cross Country Festival in North Carolina. Listed as one of the pre-race elites, Julia chose the race because "that's where they have the best competition from all across the country." She not only lived up to expectations, she exceeded them.
Running against talents (and names she had read about) such as Craig, Bei, Zeigle, and others, Julia didn't really know what to expect. She and her family arrived for the big day - the biggest high school cross country race in the country - at 6:45 in the morning. And as if there aren't enough surprises in a cross country race itself, Julia and the other competitors would face others.
The big one of course, was the postponement of the race because of flooding at the finish line. "Be back to race at three" the group was told.
But when Julia and the other unattached elite athletes who were scheduled to run in the Invitational Section showed up at three, there was another big surprise awaiting them. The unattached runners were being moved to the Championship Section to run against the top teams in the US.
No problem.
Julia was happy they made the move. She had the program and she had read it. "There were so many Footlocker Finalists in the race. You had to go fast." Even better, the unattached runners got the luck of the draw with their place on the line. With all the mud from the flooding, Julia believes they got one of the best start paths in the race.
Julia knew she had the speed to get out with the front pack. Her strategy was to keep all those Footlocker Finalists nearby and to make a move on the course's only hill. "I was upset that the course was so flat. I'm usually strong on them (hills). And the race was a lot slower than it would have been if it weren't for all the muddy patches."
Julia went out with the pack, and at the mile, she was one of 10-12 runners jostling for position. And we mean 'jostling' for position. But by the 1.5 mile point as they entered the woods, it was just a pack of four, Sara Bei, Alicia Craig, Laura Zeigle, and Julia. Soon, though, Bei dropped back and Julia was joined by Megan Kaltenbach. It was only moments later that Craig, the eventual winner, and Kaltenbach made a move on a downhill and took a lead. "Alicia's move was quite convincing" Julia recounted.
From that point on, Julia was where she had not expected to be. "I felt strong, but right up until the end, I kept thinking a lot of people would come up on me. I heard people yelling for the girl who got fourth, but I was also gaining on Kaltenbach. With more course, I might have caught her."
Julia's goal for the race had been to finish top fifteen. And although she had been intimidated at first by the names, she knew they were just that, names. Her 18:13 is one of her best, especially on such a sloppy course. But even more impressive was her performance against some of the best runners in high school in the entire country.
Julia's assessment of her effort shows that she now knows what many PA runners, coaches and fans have known for quite some time. "There were so many people with more experience in the race, but I guess I really am in their league. Others always told me I could run with these people, and now I believe it."
Julia's fastest race of the year so far came on October 3 at Penn Charter. The course is 40% road and track and flat. But it's a legit 5K after being re-designed this year. She held the record of 17:30 on the shorter 2.95 mile course. But on this day she said she felt great and "felt like I sprinted the whole way" as she sailed to a 17:14, the fastest U.S. run of the year at the time.
Four days later, she took on the "hilliest, toughest course I have ever run" at the Salesianum Invitational in Delaware. She won the Girls Varsity C division in a course record time of 18:57. Not only is she the first girl under 19:00 on the course, she is one of only two girls to go under 20:00. In 1999, Julia broke Josianne Lauber's (formerly Oxford, now running at NC State), course record in a time of 19:40. Julia's record was then broken in the 1999 Delaware State Championships by Meredith Lambert of Tatnall (DE), who ran a 19:33. Tatnall was second at this year's Salesianum, 52 seconds back.
On October 10, Julia broke the course record at Germantown Academy by 46 seconds, running an 18:27.
It must have been a good tune-up, because on Saturday, October 14 at New York's storied Van Cortland Park course, she took her incredible year to an entirely new level at the Eastern States Championships.
As Julia lined up to race against a Footlocker Finalist/US Mile Champ , the number one runner on the nation's #1 team, who was just two seconds behind her at the Great American in September, plus the only girl to run a 5K as fast as Pudlin this year , she was still quite confident of staying with the pack.
That confidence wouldn't have been the case a month earlier, but after her third place performance in the Great American XC Festival, a few more course records, including a 17:14 5K, and the first sub-19 at Salesianum, Julia was brimming with confidence and hoping for a win.
Sharing the starting line with her were Erin Donohue of Haddonfield (2nd-14:42.24), Danielle Coon of Saratoga Springs (3rd-14:59.80), and Karen Pulliam of Quince Orchard, Maryland (5th-15:20.46). "I always have looked up to Erin (Donohue) as someone way ahead of me."
At race time, the sun was brilliant, but it was also a bit too warm to be comfortable racing conditions. The shorter course is 2.5 miles, but keeps the entire trail in the woods as used at Footlockers. The start and finish are shortened. Julia wanted to run the race to re-familiarize herself with the course, since the only time she has run there was in 9th grade at Footlockers. She missed last year because of a stress fracture.
Julia just wanted to stay with the pack and see what developed. She was ready for a break at any time, especially after experiencing the startling surge put on by Alicia Craig at the Great American three weeks ago.
Coon and Donohue took it out, with Julia and Pulliam in tow. At the 1-1/2 mile point, Julia was ready when the move from Donohue came. She responded, and tracked Erin through the woods, content to put distance on the other competitors. The two were together as they came out of the woods for the final quarter mile.
"I tried to pass Erin four times, and actually got around her once, but she passed me right back. I was thinking about how strong an athlete she is, that she's a national champion miler, so I thought that her kick would be better than mine would. But I kept trying, and just decided to give it one last push at the end, and she didn't respond."
Julia's training has focused on distance and hill work. She hasn't yet incorporated any speed. So to say the least, when she burst by Donohue in the last ten yards, she was surprised. "I have a kick in me!"
Just three days after her stunning win at Van Cortlandt, Julia apparently set the high school girls' record for the Haverford College course against Shipley, when she clocked a 17:54, nearly three minutes ahead of second place. The course is 3 miles, 540 feet, which is just over 5K. We say apparently, because no one is quite sure of the record, but no one can remember a faster high school time by a girl.
Another week goes by, and on October 24, Julia visits the Agnes Irwin course, where she set the course record of 18:46 in 1999. Not content to stay in the 18:00's, Julia hammers out a 17:34. That's fifteen course records for her career, including two at major venues, Salesianum and Belmont Plateau.
She won her third consecutive Pennsylvania Independent Schools State Championship at Mercersburg Academy on October 28, cutting the course record to bits by 40 seconds in 18:10.2, leading her Baldwin School team to their first-ever state championship in any sport.
She followed up that performance with a 17:51 at the Devon Campus of Episcopal Academy in the Inter-Academic League Championships on Nov 2. That broke her own record of 18:57. This was her fourth straight league title, which she first won in 8th grade. Her Baldwin team also won the league championship.
On the prowl for a tune-up before Footlockers on November 25, Julia set her sights on Mid-Atlantic AAU Regional Qualifying race at Gloucester County Community College in NJ on Sunday Nov 12. The course is flat for the first and last miles, but hilly and rugged for the second mile. She was all alone, finishing in 18:07. One race official believed that the time broke Erin Donohue's course record of 18:10, but that has not been officially confirmed.
With that race, she set her tenth course record of the year, and now holds 16 course records, some of which she has broken twice.
The next race was the biggest of her career. It was Julia's chance to erase the "bad race" of her freshman year, and qualify for her first Footlocker Finals. Julia knew there had been a lot of hype this season. But instead of getting caught up in all the pre-race predictions, she showed a maturity that many athletes never learn. She shut it out.. After a brief glance at her favorite website on the Tuesday before the race, Dyestat, Julia turned her full attention to preparing to race. "This week I stayed off DyeStat. I love DyeStat, but I think it's important not to let the hype get to you."
Race day arrived, and Julia was faced with the additional pressure of having virtually a busload of family there to watch. Again, she had learned a lesson that few learn this early in life. "I run for myself and for my own internal goals, and you shouldn't let the external pressure get to you. I know most runners have enough internal pressure and you don't need it from anybody else. You're not trying to please other people. It's important to keep that in mind. You're doing this for yourself. But obviously, you're doing it to make other people happy too, but you shouldn't worry about what other people think about you."
Julia felt that the leaders had run a smart race the whole way, after going out in what she described as a 'comfortable' 5:30 mile pace. "I'm glad that we did that, because I've heard all these tales of Footlockers going out at five-flat. Even my freshman year we went out a lot faster than today."
Pudlin was leading for awhile, but at the mile, the girls that would eventually finish first and second took off. She even dropped to fourth for much of the woods, but was always cognizant of her position. Coming out, right before she got to the bridge, she pulled closer to the girls in first and second. "I think that was my best move in the race. On the flat, I passed Meghan Owen, but she got me right at the line. I was a little surprised. I didn't know she was that close to me. I was disappointed that she got me at the end."
Following the race, Julia was obviously very relieved. Her only concern had been that she may have run her best races a few weeks earlier. "I was just worried I wouldn't be able to hold it that long. But I guess now everyone's a bit more flat, so everyone's not on top of their competition."
Pudlin is really looking forward to the flat, fast Disney course. After all, she has the nation's top 5K time of 17:14, again, on a flat course. "I'm really strong on hills, but I'm hoping I'll be able to run a really fast time. Now that I'm going to go, I just want to have fun, and hopefully get top ten."
Despite all the success with her running this season, including being named to her third consecutive PA All-State First Team, Julia has managed to keep everything in perspective. "I've tried not to become too obsessed with running. I'm trying to keep my life in balance, like making time to go to the movies with my friends."
And that she does. As you might expect of an athlete who attends a top private school, Julia's standards of performance for academics are as high as her athletic ones. When the time comes to narrow her college choices next year, she hopes to be visiting and selecting from schools such as her personal favorite, Princeton, her dad's, Yale, Stanford (which she liked a lot on a visit), Duke, and other Division One programs with great academics.
But first there is her first Footlocker Finals, Indoor States. The Penn Relays. Footlocker Outdoors. And the goal is always the same. To run against, and to beat, the best. "There are so many talented people. You can always improve. Which means there is always a good challenge."
But even though she claims she is always nervous before a race, Julia says she is always prepared. "I have the same routine. I eat the same dinner. I have my favorite race socks. And then when the gun goes off, I'm not nervous anymore. I just run."
That, as her competition is discovering, seems to be taking her wherever she wants to go.
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