Any person who has completed a distance race can say something for the mental drive necessary to keep going through the mileage. But when a runner is battling through the solitude of simply racing the clock, that physical and internal determination must be elevated for success. Freshman Tabor Scholl, who runs for Middle Park High School, is so much a leader of the pack within the girls’ 3A division, that she said her only competition is time.
This past week Scholl ran a personal record of 18:10.00, which qualified her for the state championship race and gave her a first place finish at the Colorado 3A Region 3 meet. Scholl said her strategy going into the race was to pace herself during the first mile, and steadily quicken the pace throughout the race.
“I just try and stay mentally and physically tough, and not break down, because it’s hard sometimes running by yourself,” Scholl, who is undefeated this season, said. “There’s not much competition. It’s just kind of been me out there.”
Scholl said she hopes to run the fastest time in the state of Colorado, which is hard to do without fierce competition for motivation. She expressed her disappointment with CHSAA rules that prevent her from moving up to the 4A or 5A division at the upcoming state championship meet, but said she has been doing a lot of visualization in preparation for the big day.
“I read a couple of articles in Running Times about how visualization can be one of the most powerful things,” Scholl said. “So I try to visualize myself running through the finish line and seeing a great time on the clock.”
“It really just depends on me and how bad I want to hurt and how bad I want to push through to get to the top level and be the best and have the fastest time at state. Everything that I’ve put in is not going to be good if I can’t perform, so I really have to focus,” Scholl continued.
Running comes as naturally to Scholl as it does to the rest of her family. Scholl’s father was a decathlete in college and a member of the national Olympic rowing team in 2004. Scholl said her younger 11-year-old brother, Tyler, is running 5k’s in the low 16 minute range.
Because Scholl attends West Grand High School, she trains with the Middle Park cross country team about twice a week, and completes the rest of her training with her father, mother, and brother, who actually seem to be quite the competition during workouts.
“We’re definitely a close-knit family,” Scholl said. “We spend a lot of time together and I don’t think any of us mind it. We race a lot together too. We kind of just make a vacation out of each race that we do.”
The Scholl family owns a cattle ranch near Kremling, as well as a coffee shop, which they all work at together. During the winter season, Scholl and her brother participate in Nordic skiing competitions at the Junior Olympic level. While Scholl usually trains on the ski trails hand-made by her father behind the family house, she recently joined the Steamboat Springs Winter Sports Club.
Running, however, is Scholl’s first love.
The same can be said about Arapahoe High School junior, Daniel Vavrik, who also scored a first-place finish at the regional meet at Denver City Park. Vavrik (16:26.00) finished just two seconds ahead of Denver East High School’s Cerake Geberkidane (16:28.00), which was an unexpected wild card in Vavrik’s initial plans beginning the race.
“My overall strategy going into the race was to run with both Chris Davis and Kyle Ames, working with Chris to try and get ahead of Kyle, who had beaten us the last two times we had raced,” Vavrik said.
Christopher Davis is a senior teammate of Vavrik, and senior, Kyle Ames, runs for Smoky Hill High School.
“I didn’t know just how good Cerake was going to be in the race, so he was a bit of a surprise. He was surely a motivating factor in the final moments of the race. I’m glad that I had the opportunity to race against him, and feel that we both learned a lot from the race,” Vavrik continued.
The Arapahoe girls and boys both took first place at the regional meet, but Vavrik said all members of the team will have to perform their best in order to have a top finish at the state competition.
“One thing this year at Arapahoe that is a difference from last year is the increased depth within our ranks of varsity contenders,” Vavrik said. “The guys in our lineup this state season had to prove that they really wanted to do something at state; they’ve been working all season.”
Vavrik’s personal goals for the state meet are to run a smart race, similar to this week’s past performance at regionals. To perform well, Vavrik said it will take a lot of mental preparation and a realization from the beginning that the race will not be easy. Arapahoe boys’ head cross country coach, Charles Lutz, expressed his desire to see Danny have a top 5 finish at state, especially because his performances have an impact on his teammates.
“Even as a junior, Danny is a leader on the team,” Lutz said. “Danny encourages the guys to do their best and make the most out of each day, but his leadership is more the ‘lead by example’ type. Danny lifts up the expectations that each runner makes of themselves because he has such high expectations for himself.”
Even though the Arapahoe boys’ team will go into the state championship meet with full focus and intensity, they find time to honor team traditions. In anticipation of shaving off seconds at state, the boys’ team shaves their legs.
“Some say it’s for aerodynamics, but really it’s just one of those traditions that has no explanation,” Vavrik said.
“I spend much of my time running with friends, and much of the rest at school or doing activities with the same friends. I am lucky to have such a great group of people to spend time with,” Vavrik continued.
In the coming days, we’ll see if those aerodynamics pay off. Until then, happy training, and congratulations to our Athletes Honey Milk Athletes of the Week!