Catholic High Runner has sights set on breaking more records
February 8, 2012
Catholic High Runner has sights set on breaking more records
By Meredith Bower
As any runner will tell you, it's both a physical and mental sport. You have to want to train day in and day out, and you can't be bothered by unfavorable weather conditions. Elite runners take it a step further, adding speed to the equation.
Ellie Gonzales, a sophomore at The Catholic High School of Baltimore is the complete package--she's got the heart and the head, and of course the legs. Last fall, the 15-year-old broke the course record at Oregon Ridge in the 2011 IAAM Cross Country Championships with a time of 17:59. And, most recently at the Indoor Track Championships in February she set a conference record for running the mile in 4:57. Now she has her sights set on breaking the state record for the mile, a goal that requires shaving 11 seconds off her time. Ellie believes she will achieve that goal; and her determination is clear each time the confident teenager laces her shoes and steps up to the starting line.
Reducing her time by seconds requires hours and hours of training each week, something that doesn't bother Ellie a bit. She's happy to run for miles in most weather conditions and is very fond of her coach, who also happens to be her father, Anibal Gonzales.
"Ellie is a good listener and a great student of the sport," says her coach and perhaps biggest fan. "She can separate the father part of it, and it helps that I've done what she's doing," he says, referring to his own career as a high school and collegiate runner.
Speaking as both a parent and coach, Gonzales describes Ellie as a humble, yet fierce competitor who knows what she wants. Ellie's respect for her father is mutual, as his training style is both firm and flexible. She has a clear understanding of what they are doing each day and why, and the last thing he wants is for Ellie to burn out. They both realize that what she has is a gift--one that can take her far as she moves through high school and into college.
Gonzales also understands another reality of his daughter's situation, which is that despite their busy household (Ellie is the second of six children); she spends a lot of time alone. She's not only ahead of the pack during most races, but also during practices.
Ellie, who is energized by competition, lights up when she describes running with or against other kids who can keep her pace. Because Catholic High practices on Archbishop Curley's track she sometimes finds herself running with the boys' team and recently she's been training with some of her competition, including Hannah Marsbach from Glenelg Country School.
Ellie's dedication to her sport runs deeper than the race. Despite her ranking as 3rd in the nation for the 3200, the smiley teen is focused on capturing the one-mile title.
And win or lose, you can bet she'll be a good sport. Confident, but not cocky she has all the essential parts necessary for setting new records: the physical, the mental and a coach with her best interest at heart.
