Courtney Allen never used to run. Now she’s chasing rabbits.
Courtney Allen never used to run. Now she’s chasing rabbits.
In a recent meet at Natividad Creek in Salinas, the San Benito Lady ‘Balers cross country team, Allen included, were unfamiliar with the dusty and downhill terrain of the Salinas park.
To ease them with their navigation, the girls race was run with a rabbit, or a guide, that ran ahead of the pack and kept unknowing harriers on the right course toward the finish line.
With the rabbit at the ready, the air horn rang out. Allen, a junior at SBHS, sprinted out ahead of the pack, chasing after the rabbit.
At one point in the middle of the 5K race through Natividad Creek, coaches and spectators joked that Allen was pushing the rabbit so far ahead, other competitors may get lost.
“I just try to get a good start,” Allen said. “Normally, I just go run my own race, just keep up with the first little pack … Usually, I just try to stay with the fastest runners to improve my time.”
Allen took first easily at Natividad Creek that day, but has impressively broken the 18-minute marker two times recently. The first time came at the Clovis Invitational on Oct. 6, where her 18:49 was the best among Central Coast Section runners, and was 15 seconds better than CCS second-place finisher Jennifer Clarke of Oak Grove.
Pretty good for someone who picked up running just two years ago.
At Spring Grove, Allen was a three-sport athlete in volleyball, basketball and soccer. With nary a runner in her family, it was only until her mother spotted a newspaper article seeking high school runners at SBHS, as well as a little friendly ribbing from her grandfather, that Allen went out for the cross country team.
“I had never run before. In P.E. (physical education), we would do running, but I’d never just go off and run by myself,” she said. “In middle school, I’d tell people I don’t like to run, so I wasn’t too excited about it.”
Of course, her grandfather Jerry Allen, who always believed Courtney was fast, told her to try out for track. When she went out for cross country, she called Jerry to tell him the good news.
His response? Well, considering the obvious similarity between track and cross country, Jerry’s response was somewhat comical.
“I talked to him and he said, ‘I didn’t tell you to go out for cross country. I told you to go out for track,'” Courtney said. “And I ended up going out for track, too.
“It was good, just the vibe I got from everybody there. It was a good vibe.”
That good vibe was what made Allen come back her sophomore year after she suffered an Achilles injury her first season. This year, she’s leading the Lady ‘Balers across the finish line.
Josh Morales, who has coached Allen the past three years, said the junior harrier trained all summer and came into this season in top shape. And while the highlight of Allen’s season so far has been breaking the 18-minute mark, Morales believes she can reach the mid- to low-18s, and possibly break into the 17-minute mark by the end of the year.
“It’s always good to have a runner get a low number for us right off the bat,” Morales said. “It’s all going to come down to how much she wants it. She’s fast enough to run with the guys in practice … that’s how she pushes herself.”
Pushing yourself is the name of the game in cross country, where the San Benito squad runs three miles or more on Tuesday’s and Friday’s as part of a “recovery” workout after meets.
And if you think that’s dedication, consider that Allen is dropping soccer this year in an effort to focus on her running – cross country and track included – with the hope of getting a cross country scholarship somewhere.
“It’s just the team that keeps me in it because it’s just so fun to be in it with everyone else,” Allen said. “I have a really good team and I appreciate all their work.”
A few years ago, back before Allen’s passion for running arose, she could be seen at P.E. class running the Tiger Mile, which she said was basically an 800 meters at Spring Grove.
She said she never wanted to do it, but she’d never stop running because she knew she could do it.
Today, she’s seeking a college scholarship just to run.
Boys coach Jess Morales said Allen began to change her tune when she began training hard for both the 800-meters and the mile races in track.
“She kind of wanted to step it up a bit … That’s when it all went forward,” he said. “The hungrier she got, the more training she started doing and she started getting her time down … The hardest part of teaching a kid is to believe in themself.”
Allen’s usually at the head of the pack, providing top times for the Lady ‘Balers, and interestingly enough, she doesn’t like running alone.
“It gets too lonely,” she added. “But sometimes it’s harder to run next to someone. Sometimes you run into their rhythm, and it messes you up. You concentrate on their rhythm, and you can’t concentrate on the race.”
Allen is currently concentrating on the Tri-County Athletic League Championships, which will be held at Toro Park on Oct. 27.
“There’s going to be a university looking out for her. Practice makes perfect,” Jess Morales said. “Basically, she put in the hard work and that’s what it boils down to.”
Rabbits beware.
