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Show OREM TIMES Page 9 COMMUNITY SPORTS, PEOPLE AND OUTDOOR FUN Thursday, April 24, 2008 Mil Orem track star Harper hoping to end stellar high school career with a bang Russ Lyman NORTH COUNTY It just wasn't her day. Just over six months ago at the 4A state cross country championships, Orem High's Krystal Harper found herself in an unfamiliar position. Harper, one of the top long distance dis-tance runners in the state and the defending champion of the three mile off-road event, was behind the leaders and starting to fall back into the pack. Nothing Noth-ing was going right up to that point for the senior. "I forgot everything so I didn't have what I normally have before races," Harper said. "I was running on empty and I was freaking out cause my legs were tired." As a result, Harper was in fifth place and about 40 seconds sec-onds behind her normal pace when she, with a little help from a friend, decided she had had enough. Teammate Kendy Chris-tensen Chris-tensen told Harper not to give up which caused her to think about the countless hours of training she had put in to win the race and kicked it into gear. Harper went on to pass the rest of the field on her way to a comfortable but exhausting exhaust-ing 11 second win. "I settled completely where I didn't care how I did," Harper said following the race. "Then I just turned my attitude around, thought positive and realized how much I wanted it. I completely com-pletely pushed through the pain." AJthough the difficulty of the win was relatively new for Harper, the outcome was not. The senior has been winning races, including a national championship, since before her high school career started. The 2007 state cross country championship cham-pionship was her second in a row to go along with a pair of state track championships in the 3,200 meter race. The four state championships could currently cur-rently be six, but Harper was edged out in the 1,600m by less than a second each of the past two years. While four state championships champion-ships in two different sports would normally be more than I 11 .ri k Ik fr (r BEST BQDYSHOP PRACTICES FOR LESS! OREM 574 N State St j.---Oma 84057 (801)224-9911 HOURS PRQYO 355 L SCO S. Provo, B4&05 (S01) 377-2827 HOURS 1 Me- Sm&xf - Oosed CmBtCinb Accepted (AM-4L1WMM 1 CRAIG DILGERNorth County Krystal Harper of Orem High runs in the 2007 Utah State Cross Country Championships on Oct. 17, 2007. Harper went on to take first place for the 4A girls with a time of 19:11.6 over the three mile course. most high school athletes could ever dream of, Harper remains hungry for more. Looking ahead to next month's 4A track championships, Harper has her eyes set on a third straight 3,200m title and hopes to finally get over the hump in the 1,600m and bring home the fifth and sixth titles of her illustrious running career. In addition to the individual titles, Harper has helped Orem win back-to-back team championships champion-ships and would like to help her team go out a winner as n II It JT A A A 1 Z-S , . j; "Y Tw $ i mm D) well. "It's been way fun," Harper said reflecting upon her time spent running in high school. "It's crazy thinking that it's-done it's-done so it's kind of sad thinking think-ing I can never go back to it. That's why I hope I can do really good this year and end with a bang hopefully." For Harper, being a successful success-ful distance runner is something some-thing that runs in the family. Krystal's mother Cheryl ran for BYU. Her older brother Golden and sister Amber both 033 SZZ3ED TRANSMISSIONS ' . r i ... went on to run track in college following outstanding prep careers. In addition, her father Hawk is a past winner of the St. George marathon. When the Harper's aren't running, they are often at the family store "The Runner's Corner" on State Street in Orem. For Harper, coming from a running-oriented family is something that has helped her become successful. "It really helps just cause in a way my dad is my coach so he knows what's best for me and a lot of things I can do to get better," Harper said. "If I have a bad day they understand what it feels like and they have answers to all my problems." Despite the fact that she comes from a gifted running family, Harper has still had to work hard to achieve the success she has. That work involves almost year-round conditioning which can include running as much as 10 miles in a day as well as sprints and other workouts. Harper's high school coach Andy Jacobs is quick to point out that she has been one of the hardest workers on the team during her time at Orem. "If you look at all the track athletes, very few put in as much time and effort as the top distance kids," Jacobs said. "To be a top distance kid, you can't just rely on natural talent. You have to really work for it and put in the time and she's put in multiple hours per day." Her father agrees that it has taken more than being born into a running family for her to achieve the success she has. "People say you've got the genes or something, but the thing they forget is that you still have to work for it," Hawk Harper said. "You don't just show up to a track meet or a cross country meet and win automatically." While Harper's intense training has played a critical role in her success, she still acknowledges ac-knowledges that with distance running, much of the time the outcome is determined by the mental side of the race. "It's tough just because it's See HARPER, Page 10 I I P x-n c !mmiMm Kivroationnl Vehicle 07 CfiACHillN SPIHT OF r V f 24 tet. Stow. DVD, Microwovt.Slni. Mdg, SofaBed. Window Curtains, Clotti Sean, AC. panel, creative breeze. V Ii 'l i0r3L QjgHfl 3315 T'Wolves extend winning streak to 4 games with wins over RG., Lehi Russ Lyman NORTH COUNTY ' Taylor Lyons wouldn't get out and Rhett Nelson wouldn't give in, and as a result, Timpanogos came out ahead in its 4-2 win over Pleasant Grove on Wednesday Wednes-day afternoon in Orem. After giving up two runs in the top half of the first when Kind of struggled to get out of the gate, but kind of got better as he went and that's good to see-good for us. Riley White and Colby Croft each walked and scored, Nelson went the rest of the way giving up only one hit and no runs on his way to his first complete-game complete-game win. As Nelson dominated on the mound, Taylor Lyons got it done at the plate. Lyons, Ly-ons, who is now 7-for-9 over the last two games, went 3-for-4 with three singles and the T'Wolf center fielder also reached base on an error. er-ror. "Taylor Lyons has been really on fire hitting-wise," said Timpanogos coach Kim Nelson. "His average has been pretty good but he hadn't been hitting the way I think he can. I think he's kind of found a little groove. If we get a few more in that mode and it'd sure make things a lot easier for the coach." Lyons helped Timpanogos get on the board early on when he singled and scored on a base hit by Jordan Mehlhoff. One inning later, Christian Stewart homered to left to even up the score at 2-2. The T'Wolves took the lead for good in the bottom half of the third. After Viking Vi-king starter Adam Nielson got the first out, he hit Bret Lopez and Mehlhoff with pitches. Mitch Foster lined a single up the middle to score Lopez and Grant Jimenez followed with a sacrifice fly to score Foster to give iUFMCA i Timpanogos a 4-2 advantage. advan-tage. The 4-2 score would hold up due to a pair of strong performances from both Nelson and Nielson. "It was just a good high school baseball game," Nelson said. "Both pitchers pitched well. You'd think that with the wind blowing straight out in this ballpark there'd be a little more offensive of-fensive action and that says a lot for the pitchers." In addition to Lyons' big day, Stewart and Foster also added a pair of hits and an RBI apiece. Stewart's hits came in the midst of a slump that the senior was struggling to hit his way out of. "His average probably isn't very good, but he has hit the ball hard and has been unlucky in a lot of ways," Nelson said. "I told him the other day, 'you've just got to hang in there,' and I'm proud of him to come back and have a good day." I Timpanogos 17, Lehi 0: At Lehi, the T'Wolves strung together nine hits in an eight-run third inning, in- eluding a long ball from Jordan Mehlhoff to put the Pioneers away and end the game in five innings. Gentry Croft was near perfect, as he allowed only one hit and struck out eight Lehi batters bat-ters in the complete game shutout. Mitch Foster, Jordan Cooper, Coo-per, Bret Lopez and Christian Chris-tian Turley had doubles to go with Mehlhoff's home run. Softball I Pleasant Grove 9, Timpanogos 0: At Orem, Pleasant Grove (2-4, 6-8) smacked a combined six doubles to pick up only its second Region 4 victory of the season, shutting out the T'Wolves (14, 9-6). 08 F0&ST tiYIR WILDWOOD H 23 feet, mtaowave. electric fMeoutsoM oak sh-. panel, creative breeze t ( |