Wednesday, May 29, 2013

Athlete Profile: Alexandra Ford


By Barbara Bell

Junior distance runner Alex Ford is finishing up a remarkable season in spring track. Alex joined the girls’ cross country team at the beginning of her freshman year, after deciding to get involved at the high school. She quickly fell in love with the sport and running itself, and decided to do both winter and spring track that year as well. Now she is a three-season “trackie,” and all her hard work is starting to pay off. Last spring, in her sophomore year, Alex finally saw her times start to drop. She ran a 5:48 mile and a 12:48 two-mile, putting her comfortably into the post season for FCIACs, and in the range for States.

This year, she came back stronger than ever. Alex ran many varsity races in cross country in the fall, although she barely missed FCIACs. In winter track, she came back to qualify for FCIACs again. And this spring, Alex has seen her fastest times so far. She dropped 7 seconds from her mile time (5:41) and finally qualified for states with a 12:06 two mile. Dropping almost three and a half minutes in as many years is quite an accomplishment, and Alex is surely proud.

“In eighth grade, I ran a 9:18 mile in gym class. I was so happy that I drew it in my planner, and put little hearts around it. I never thought that I would ever be able to break 6:00, so it’s a nice reminder of how far I’ve come,” said Alex.

Alex also completed the Celebrate Life Half Marathon in March of this year, with fellow junior Grace Evanich. Both of them ran the 13.1 race in memory of their friend, Andy Pena, who died of a rare heart disease called myocarditis in 2011. 

Photo caption: Alex rounds a turn during an indoor 3200 m race

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