Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: THURSDAY, October 14, 1993 TAG: 9310160119
SECTION: CURRENT PAGE: NRV5 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY
SOURCE: RALPH BERRIER JR. STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: DUBLIN LENGTH: Medium
Jennifer Pohlig decided to do what was best in the long run.
Now, she's the best in the long run.
After several years of dividing her time between swimming and distance running, Pohlig, a Pulaski County High School senior, decided to get out of the pool during the summer and concentrate on cross country. As a runner, she has risen to the top of the Roanoke Valley District this fall.
Coming into this week, Pohlig had finished first in all of Pulaski's meets, set course records at home and at Cave Spring and beaten every competitor by at least 30 seconds.
Actually, that's the closest anyone has come to Pohlig. After most races, Pohlig has had time to take a deep breath, cool down, stretch, file her nails, fry an egg, change the oil in her car and curl up with a good book before viewing a runner-up crossing the finish line.
A couple of times this year, Pohlig finished a full two minutes ahead of the rest of the field. In her last race, when she turned and saw an opponent within 100 yards, Pohlig admitted it felt like someone was breathing down her neck.
"I didn't run well in that race," Pohlig said sheepishly. "It seemed like it was a lot closer race than that."
Although she felt her most recent race wasn't her best, there's little doubt that Pohlig is improving. She was one of the Cougars' top runners a year ago, but she never won a meet and didn't qualify for the Group AAA meet.
She began to raise eyebrows at the district track and field meet in Salem in the spring when she swept the mile and two-mile, establishing an RVD-record of 12 minutes, 5.1 seconds in the longer race.
In the process, she beat Patrick Henry's Amy Speas for the first time. Speas, a two-time participant in the Group AAA cross country meet, was considered the RVD's premier distance runner at the time.
"In the two-mile at Patrick Henry [earlier in the spring], Amy kicked my butt," said Pohlig, who placed fifth in the two-mile and seventh in the mile at the Northwestern Region meet. "People kept telling me I could run that fast, but I didn't have the confidence. I was hoping to get better."
Also in the spring, Pohlig won a two-mile heat at the prestigious Volunteer Classic in Knoxville, Tenn., finishing seventh overall in a field of approximately 50 runners.
Pohlig concentrated almost exclusively on running during the summer, which meant giving up swimming for the Southwest Aquatic Team.
"It was difficult to do SWAT and cross country at the same time," she said. "I think [doing both] hurt my performance in both sports. Some days, I wouldn't work as hard at cross country to save something for swim practice, or some days it was the other way around.
"I'm not the greatest swimmer in the world. I wasn't doing very well in swimming. In cross country, I was kind of stuck running the same times. I wasn't going anywhere."
Now that she's focused on running, Pohlig is going somewhere, usually faster than her rivals.
For the past year, she has worked closely with Lauren Hall, a former cross country assistant coach who was given the head coach's job this year. Hall, who ran for Virginia Tech, , said Pohlig is just beginning to reach her potential as a runner.
"She has some talent that still needs to be developed," Hall said. "If she commits herself to running, she can become a top athlete in college. As it stands right now, she can be a competitive runner in Division I."
Hall instituted new training and conditioning workouts for the team. Pohlig said the regimen has paid off for her.
"Last spring was the first time I had ever run for an hour," Pohlig said. "She sends us on more long runs, and then we'll work on our strides - uphill strides and downhill strides. I didn't know there was a difference before."
Now, Pohlig takes success in stride.
"Coach Hall will tell you: I have a new attitude toward running," Pohlig said. "I'm concentrating completely on running. I guess that makes it all seem kind of new."
by CNB