DV cross-country runner spent summer becoming No. 1

Erin Leonard's development to become Desert Vista's No. 1 cross-country runner started this summer, not long before the team took its annual trip up to Payson.

That's when Leonard reflected back to last year's camp up north and knew that's when the mentality for her senior year needed to begin.

Desert Vista coach Doug Christofis gave the team a set of challenges to prepare for the season. The challenges, which involve running hills, core workouts (pushups, situps, etc), pulling a 70-pound weight and a 3-mile run, were Leonard's focus.

"I finished second or third in everything last year," said Leonard, who joined the program last season after playing volleyball previously. "I told myself with weight training and hard work, I would come in first. At camp I ran hard, kept positive thoughts, never looked behind me and finished first.

"I was like, 'Wow, if I could do this I can do really well at races.' "

The performance in Payson was just the start for the team's lone senior.

She finished seventh among seniors at the Chandler Invitational three weeks ago, set a personal record (19:10) at the Woodbridge (Calif.) Cross Country Classic two weeks ago and finished in the top 20 (19th) at the Doug Conley Invitational Saturday.

"It's because of the challenges at camp," she said. "I'm glad he pushes us because now I feel like I am a beast."

Christofis said Leonard is a go-getter and a good reason for her development.

"She has been doing great," Christofis said. "Our goals are to have them get consistently better and that's exactly what she has done. She is a hard worker and does whatever we ask her.

"She put her focus on being first in those challenges and that mentality has continued on into the season."

The Thunder has a young squad, especially with Alex Connell out with a stress fracture sustained in track season. Even though Leonard is continuing to develop as a runner, she has become one of the leaders that helped Desert Vista to a sixth place finish at the Conley. Paige Pyper (29th), Meagan Kupres (48th), Jessica Hammer (57th) and Katie Conway (65th) rounded Desert Vista's scoring runners last weekend.

Leonard said all she is trying to do is equal or better what Connell did last year as one of Desert Vista's top runners.

"I think I'm just going to look at Alex's times from last year and try to beating them because I don't really know anything about cross country," she said. "I'm going to keep positive, try not to get injured and motivate my teammates."

Christofis believes the reason she has performed so well thus far is the fact that she isn't really worried about anything other than running as hard as she can.

"The most important thing is clearing the mind of all the other garbage," he said. "What we really try and do with these athletes is to step into these races and compete.

"Erin is one who has taken that and run with it so to speak."