Western's Hampshire excited for state XC

Kokomo Tribune - Thursday, October 30, 2014

Western senior Nicole Hampshire has had her sights set on this moment for a long time.

“Going into this season, I had marked down the results from last year at semistate,” the Panther cross country runner said. “I highlighted the time of the last runner who made it to state.”

That time was 19:27.

“That was a goal,” Hampshire said. “I didn’t quite get there time-wise, but I feel like I had the best race of my life at semistate last week.”

Hampshire placed 20th overall in 19:52.6 at last Saturday’s New Prairie Semistate, earning an all-semistate squad nod and a trip to this Saturday’s IHSAA State Finals at LaVern Gibson Championship Course in Terre Haute.

“It’s pretty amazing,” Hampshire said. “I’ve had this goal since my sophomore year. It wasn’t even on my radar freshman year. It’s taken a lot of work on this journey. I’m not someone who can just drop time. I wasn’t born with that natural talent. Most of my improvement has come from running miles and miles. I’ve had to put in a lot of mileage to make this dream come true. I’m looking forward to seeing what I can do at the state meet.”

Western coach Joni McCracken was quick to praise Hampshire’s work ethic.

“There are kids out there with so much natural talent and you take a girl like Nicole who’s had to work for every single thing that she’s gotten, and now we’re seeing that pay off,” McCracken said.

Hampshire already has put together a spectacular senior season. She has the fastest time of any Howard County girl this year, posting a 19:35 at New Prairie and Logansport meets. The Logan time earned her a first-place sectional finish. She placed ninth overall at the Culver Academies Regional with a time of 20:34.5.

“I definitely wasn’t expecting to win sectionals,” Hampshire said. “Doing so well at sectionals was amazing.”

McCracken said that Hampshire’s dream run started well before 2014.

“I think the best thing is to back up a couple years,” McCracken said. “As a sophomore, she got taken under the wing of assistant coach Ray Tetrault. He really saw some potential in her. She had a determination. She has done everything she’s been asked these past few years and you can just see this process happening over the last three years.”

Hampshire backed up a little further.

“I got out all of my running journals and I noticed on my freshman year goal sheet I had written as a dream goal to run a sub-20 5K,” Hampshire said. “I don’t remember making that goal as a freshman. It’s amazing to me that not only have I hit that, I’ve gone 30 seconds below that. The freshman me hadn’t even thought that was possible. With such amazing coaches and the support system I’ve been blessed with, it’s not only been possible, but it’s been achievable.”

McCracken said the pleasure has been all hers.

“She’s an excellent girl to coach because you ask her to do something and she acts as if there is no other option,” McCracken said. “You could see it at the beginning of this year, that she had the confidence it takes to run with the

PANTHER: Western senior Nicole Hampshire is pictured Wednesday at Oakbrook Valley. She is preparing to compete in the 34th IHSAA Girls Cross County State Finals on Saturday at Terre Haute.

best in the state. You could see that she really saw it within her reach. She is very determined. You can see that in everything she does. It flows into all aspects of her life.”

Hampshire’s toughest test on the course likely awaits at LaVern Gibson, the site of the NCAA cross country championship.

“It’s definitely a challenging course, but everyone is running the same course,” McCracken said. “There are a lot of rolling hills. You start off fast and then you’re climbing back up a slow grade. I know they’ve had a lot of rain there as well. The positive thing is that it is very spectator friendly and you can see the kids so many different times. It’s just a really cool setting and it’s a great opportunity for Nicole to be able to experience this.”

Hampshire hopes her previous experience on the course will pay dividends Saturday.

“I’ve run on it twice,” Hampshire said. “Having those two experiences I think are really going to benefit me going into state. I have also heard tips from people who have more experience on the course that hopefully I will be able to implement during the meet.”

Hampshire says she and McCracken have talked about goals in the race.

“My initial goal was to be in the top 100,” Hampshire said. “After talking with coach, to place in the top 50 would be a dream.”

For someone who has turned dreams into reality throughout her career, that doesn’t seem so far out of reach.

And Hampshire, regardless of where she finishes, already knows the ultimate victory.

“Being able to walk away from the meet knowing that I gave it my all.”