In our sports conscious society it is common to see 14-year-olds with five to seven years competitive experience and already facing burn-out.
Not East High runner Rosie Gardner.Gardner is unique, not only because she is, as her coach Dale Stagg says, "the premier distance runner in the state . . . and one of the top four high school runners in the nation," but because she has reached this status in a relatively short time.
Gardner is not one of those athletes who has been training since she was a child. Remarkably, Gardner walked on the cross country team her freshman year largely because her friends were on it. She says the only previous track experience she had was running a 5K in the eighth grade. "The most memorable thing about the race was how long it was," she says. Gardner also remembers not understanding how anyone could run it fast.
Gardner recalls her first high school meet, the Pleasant Grove Invitational, as being "really hard." She says she admired the girls who took first and second and then made it her goal to "get up there." She describes the summer between her sophomore and junior years as the turning point where she really started to improve.
Her accomplishments plainly demonstrate this improvement. In three short years, Gardner has created an outstanding record for herself. When just a sophomore she took first at the regional track meet. As a junior, she took first in the 1600 and 3200 meter runs at the 4A state track championship and placed first in these events at the Great Southwest Classic - a regional meet held in Tempe, Ariz.
As a senior this year, Gardner went on to successfully compete in the Footlocker National Championship, considered the most elite race in the nation. Competing against the top prep runners in the nation, Gardner finished 10th. Sheis also the 4A cross country state champion and holds the school records in the 800, 1600, and 3200 meter runs as well as being on a record-breaking medley relay.
Stagg recognized Gardner's talent from the very start but emphasizes that she has succeeded largely because of hard work. Gardner runs year-round. While many runners are attempting to avoid the snow, she is running through it to train. In the middle of the season, Gardner works out twice a day - once in the morning and again after school.
Gardner may work hard but she enjoys what she does. "I try to have . . . fun with (running) but not to a point where my performance suffers," she says.
Says Stagg: "She enjoys it more than anyone else I have ever coached . . . maybe it's just her great sense of humor."
Gardner says she enjoys being on the track and cross country teams because of the camaraderie that comes with it. She also loves to be involved in school activities, something demonstrated by her being elected Homecoming Queen this year.
Gardner plans on running in college but hasn't yet decided where she wants to sign. Stagg reports she is being heavily recruited by many of the top running schools in the nation, some Ivy League schools, and all the local schools. Gardner is interested in majoring in nursing or sports therapy.
Despite her success, Gardner remains modest about her accomplishments and says she is just focusing on improving. This year, she is setting her sights on breaking the state records in the 1600 and 3200 meter runs.
Based upon her past success, Gardner should have no problem in achieving anything she desires. Stagg reinforces this - she "is a breed different from nine tenths of the athletes I have ever seen," he says.
"I wish I could work with her for another four years. . . . I hate to lose her . . . She is a super person and runner," he adds.