1A Girls Cross Country | State favorite took long road
Olivia Thomas didn’t want to compete.
As a freshman, she joined the King’s cross-country team hoping to have fun at practice. But a meet? Never.
When her only friend on the Shoreline school’s track team began racing, Thomas had no choice.
So she ran.
“After my first meet, I thought to myself, ‘This isn’t so bad,’ ” Thomas said, laughing. “I’ve come a long way.”
Long strides have brought the junior more than just trophies and record-breaking times. Thomas has changed from a timid freshman to a focused competitor, and the favorite to win a state championship Saturday in Pasco.
“She’s built to run. She is an amazing gazelle of a runner,” said coach Rod Wilcox.
Thomas isn’t the first accomplished runner in her family. Her grandfather, Glenn Lansing, as a teenager in the early 1930s ran what was then the fastest mile in Montana history. His time of 4 minutes, 28 seconds wasn’t far off the world record at the time, 4:10.4.
While Thomas isn’t approaching state records, her margins of victory are staggering. She won the Cascade Conference Championships by 30 seconds and the Westside Classic 1A girls race by more than 45 seconds.
No wonder Thomas’ mailbox is inundated with college recruiting letters.
But it isn’t all about the accolades for Thomas. She can’t stop talking about having fun with her team. How they’re friends first, teammates second.
“Practice is the time of day I look forward to,” she said.
Her teammates aren’t slouches, either. Last year, King’s placed seven girls in the top 50 at state en route to the 1A girls team title. Every runner is back.
The role as favorite seems “weird” to Thomas.
“I haven’t gotten nervous yet. I know I will,” she said. “But thinking about my team and how much fun we’ll have makes it easier.”