Moving to the front

By Jared Harmon

Thursday, Oct. 2, 2008 | midnight

A year after coming out of the Sunrise Regional Cross Country Championships as the runner-up, Coronado senior Michaelanne Laurent is ready to make another run at a title.

Laurent has dominated the competition this season, most recently taking the 3.1-mile Roadrunner Invitational on Sept. 27 with a time of 16 minutes, 9 seconds, against a pool of 77 girls.

"The season has been going well," Laurent said. "I feel like I'm doing better than last year. My runs are going better and the team is doing well. Right now I'm just focused on working hard and trying to continue to improve."

Coronado coach Mark Tondryk said Laurent has been a big part of the Cougars' success over the last two years. As the defending regional champs, he'll be counting on Laurent to lead the way as the Cougars attempt to repeat.

"She's an amazing runner but for three years now she's also been my hardest worker by far," Tondryk said. "She just doesn't slack off. She always knows what's going on and she keeps the team in line — boys and girls. She pushes everyone to improve and challenge themselves. She's all a coach could ask for."

In addition to being one of the top athletes in the state, Laurent is also in contention to be Coronado's valedictorian earning her ample interest from colleges. But, just three years ago as an incoming freshman, Laurent wasn't sure which sport she wanted to play.

"I love all sports except baseball — I always have," she said. "I played almost every sport growing up but I knew when I got to high school I would have to choose and I was leaning toward tennis. Almost last minute I chose track and that got me into cross country to train for running the mile. I fell in love with it."

Laurent said she's always been drawn to the sense of accomplishment she experiences after finishing a distance race as well as the sport's stress-relieving qualities.

Laurent's biggest competition will likely be Foothill's Leah Leedy, the defending regional champion. But Laurent said she is thinking about her larger goals rather than one opponent.

"(Pressure) kind of got to me when I was younger because I won a few races and then everyone expected me to win all the time," Laurent said. "Now it's not a big deal anymore. I realized I'm just running for me. I run my best and try to help the team. I want to win regionals and go on to have a good meet at state."

Jared Harmon can be reached at 990-8922 or [email protected].