More time for family - Carolina Weekly Newspapers

SportS
Denny Seitz/MW photo
BOYS CROSS COUNTRY RUNNER OF ThE YEAR
Wildcats’ driven Marshburn completes mission
Lake Norman High School’s Michael Marshburn is Mooresville
Weekly’s 2010 Boys Cross Country Runner of the Year.
GiRlS CROSS COUNTRY RUNNER OF ThE YEAR
If you talk about the Lake Norman High cross
country teams through the years, there’s one name
that will almost always be the first one mentioned:
Jenny Gallagher.
Her name is on almost every school running record.
Her performances constantly impress, and,
just when you think she can’t top her latest performance,
she usually goes out and does just that.
Gallagher, Mooresville Weekly’s 2010 Girls
Cross Country Runner of the Year, burst onto the
scene during her sophomore year, when nobody
expected her to excel. Racing in the Iredell County
Meet, she didn’t merely do well – she came out of
nowhere and won the event. Then, she won her
next race, and the next, and the next.
Like other great runners, Gallagher’s opponent
isn’t a person, but a time. She wants to run her best
every time she races, and the others who are on
the course with her do not factor into that goal.
“What motivates me is trying to beat myself, my
times,” Gallagher said. “I just want to keep getting
faster, doing better.”
Gallagher’s motivation to be the best isn’t just
in running. She’s an honor student with a 4.36
weighted grade-point-average. She’s also an acclaimed
actor and member of the school’s drama
club – The Academy at Lake Norman – which recently
earned a spot in a national theatre competition
next spring after winning regional and state
by Denny Seitz
denny@mooresvilleweekly.com
Michael Marshburn always raced against the
stopwatch as much as any other runner out on
the cross country course when Lake Norman
High was competing. It didn’t matter if crosstown
rivals Mooresville had a dozen top runners,
or if they didn’t have any at all. All Marshburn
was concerned with was doing his best, beating
the clock.
For the past three years, Marshburn, Mooresville
Weekly 2010 Boys Cross Country Runner
of the Year, did precisely that, continually dropping
his personal best times as the Wildcats team
inched closer to the top of the standings.
“You always have to push yourself because the
competition is so good,” Marshburn said. “You
see how fast you can go, how hard you can push
yourself. It makes you better, for sure.”
This year, Marshburn was the top local runner
in nearly every race he competed, including the
race he posted a time of 16:22. His best time as
a junior was 16:44. His best senior performance
was 17:13.
More than just his running ability impressed
others though.
Kathleen Scott, the Wildcats’ coach, said his
competitions.
Everything she does, she does to the best of her
ability.
“Deep down, Jenny just wants to push herself
and see how good she can become,” said Lake
Norman coach Kathleen Scott.
Gallagher has excelled at the highest level, finishing
in the top five in the prestigious Wendy’s
Invitational and earning all-state acclaim. She is a
three-time winner in the county race and has been
All-Region three times and All-Conference three
times.
Her times have consistently gotten better through
the years, from 20:40 as a sophomore, to 18:45 as
a junior and then 18:27 as a senior. The team has
been dominant too, finishing among the top six in
the state each of the three years Gallagher ran.
Last week, Gallagher’s success, both in running
and in school, earned her a scholarship offer to
Elon College. She’ll sign the papers and make it
official in February.
“I was going to go to the college I liked the best,
whether I got a scholarship offer or not from that
school,” Gallagher said. “And Elon was the one I
liked best.”
Gallagher said participating in cross country at
Lake Norman High has helped her grow and been
a great experience.
“Cross country was a really big part of me,” she
said. “After my freshman year, I got really involved,
dedicated. I learned so much and made so many
friends. It changed my life.” q
leadership skills and attitude were big reasons the
younger runners on the team improved so much
during the year.
“Michael is an all-out runner every time he
runs,” Scott said. “The best thing about Michael,
for our team, is that everybody works so hard trying
to catch him.”
The rest of the Wildcats runners did a good job
of closing the gap on Marshburn. The solid topto-bottom
performances made the team much
stronger, leading to several notable achievements
during the season.
Lake Norman won the Iredell County Meet for
the first time this season, with Marshburn leading
the way by finishing third overall. For the second
year in a row, Marshburn earned all-conference
honors. This season, after missing by one spot as
a junior, Marshburn earned all-region acclaim.
A tough outing at the state meet was the lone
thing even resembling a blemish on an otherwise
stellar career, but it was hardly enough to lead
anyone to suggest Marshburn wasn’t clearly the
top runner in the area.
“Michael might have some hobbies,” Scott said.
“But his primary goal, after doing well in school,
is being the very best runner.”
This season, Marshburn accomplished that
goal in impressive fashion. q
Running career changes Gallagher’s life
by Denny Seitz
denny@mooresvilleweekly.com
Lake Norman High’s Jenny Gallagher is Mooresville Weekly’s 2010
Girls Cross Country Runner of the Year.
Denny Seitz/MW photo
Page 30 • Mooresville Weekly • Dec. 10-16, 2010
www.mooresvilleweekly.com