It's been a long and winding high school road for Fleming's Ashley Atkin, but it's taking her to UNC. Photo by Alan Versaw.
As difficult as this may be to believe, not every girl in Fleming High School plays volleyball. Of course, Ashley Atkin is probably shorter than most of her classmates.
That fact hasn't stopped her, however, from becoming a remarkable athlete in her own right.
Atkin hasn't always run for her home high school. In fact, she's worn three singlets throughout her high school career--Caliche, Sterling, and Fleming. So, how did that happen?
"I ran for Caliche High School as a freshman because the Fleming school decided to cut the track program that year, so the four girls that went out got to choose which bordering school district to join forces with."
She would run the 100, 200, and 800 at the state track meet for Caliche that spring.
She almost ended up doing a season in Haxtun's cherry and black as well, "The next year, Fleming and Haxtun attempted to consolidate track teams, but the school boards decided to stay as separate teams. My older sister and I were the only girls on the team that year, and since then it has just been easier to stay at my home school and run with the boys team in practice."
If you read between the lines on that last statement, you understood that Ashley Atkin was the girls' track team at Fleming High School last spring. No relays for Ashley. Even so, Fleming finished tied for 10th at the 2A state track meet with 28 points.
Moving down to 1A this spring, it's a reasonable guess that Fleming will improve on that finish. And perhaps Ashley will have some company on the team, but that remains to be seen. Atkin's best event is probably the 400, but you could make a solid case for the 800 as well. She will certainly be competitive at 100 and 200 meters.
And perhaps it's the range that extends to 800 meters in track and field that prompted a venture into Sterling High School cross country, on a part-time basis at first but the venture would develop into a full-time investment this past fall. Atkin was the top runner on the team, including a sub-20 performance, before a long illness made for a short season. Otherwise, we might easily have seen her at the state cross country meet.
The University of Northern Colorado seemed a natural fit for Atkin, "It is close to my home. It is one of the two universities in Colorado with an Audiology/Speech Language Program, and Coach Galbraith and the team were very welcoming and friendly when I visited there this fall." It probably doesn't hurt that UNC is beginning to make something of a name for itself at 400 meters.
In the off-season, if you want to call it that, Atkin plays for the Fleming basketball team. Currently, the Wildcats sport a 14-1 record and a #4 ranking in the 1A classification. It looks as if Ashley and track coach Lisa Chintala may get a late start on track season this spring. Once track does get started for Atkin, she says, "I would like to set some personal bests this spring in track, and hope to compete in four open events at state this spring."
Anything even remotely approaching her personal bests of 12.79, 26.20, 58.67, and 2:21.52 should get the latter part done.
While Atkin has her doubts about running cross country in college, the thought is sure to cross the mind of the coaching staff at some point.