By Josh Patterson, For The Herald Bulletin
LAPEL — That’s the funny thing about running. Yes, the clock is there — always there. However, if you can bring your friends along, perhaps that’s even more fulfilling than racing against that clock.
Such is the case for The Herald Bulletin Girls Cross Country Runner of the Year, Lapel’s Leah Steele. She explained that this season may not have provided the times of seasons past. However, seeing her friends’ excitement build toward running strengthened her love for the sport.
“I feel like I’ve grown a lot mentally, with how I prepare and how I train,” Steele said. “This year my times weren’t as great as they were last year, but I don’t feel like that matters as much because I wanted to bring my teammates along with me.”
That’s not to say this season was a disappointment, results-wise. Far from it, in fact, as Steele claimed the Madison County championship, a runner-up finish in sectionals and placed third in regionals.
“She dominated in our county,” Pendleton Heights coach Melissa Hagerman said. “Nobody was really there to challenge her.”
Though Lapel moved to the Indiana Crossroads Conference this season, the Bulldogs were asked to compete in the White River Athletic Conference meet as well.
Steele won the WRAC title and took second in the ICC meet, but said her greatest thrill of the season could have been the performance of the Lapel boys team in the WRAC race, where the Bulldogs swept the top six positions.
And she said she’s helping to lead an offseason workout regimen that will hopefully pay many dividends next year.
“I know that a few of us are going to run during the winter,” Steele said. “Some of the guys are coming along, and we’ll come back strong next fall. I think we have a chance to compete.”
Though Hagerman doesn’t see Steele on a regular basis, she said the importance of putting in the mileage in the offseason is key to success during the season. After stepping onto the scene as a sophomore, it’s that sort of work ethic that’s helped Steele emerge as a standout.
“Last year, she had a good season,” Hagerman said. “This year, I think that experience — knowing who the competition is outside of the county — paid off.
“It’s just knowing what goes into making you better at your sport. She’s definitely on the right track.”
Steele’s hoping that track will lead her past high school, as she’d like to continue running in college while working toward a degree in nursing. Nursing her teammates along, continuing to build a strong foundation at Lapel — that’s the legacy Steele hopes to leave behind.
“Ever since last year, I realized my potential for running, and I think I’d like to do (cross country and track),” Steele said. “That’d be my ideal situation. It seems like it’d be really fun to pursue that dream.”
