Growing up and slowing down

St. Paul Academy senior Annie Hart will compete at her section cross-country meet this week, hoping to reach the state meet for the fifth time overall -- and for the second time since a growth spurt derailed her progress. Champlin Park freshman Cassidy Soli hopes to make her first trip to state, the crowning jewel of a breakout season her coaches are trying to keep in perspective.

If Soli is successful, she will join a wave of young runners at the state meet Nov. 7 at St. Olaf College in Northfield. Youth is served in girls' cross-country, the rare high school sport in which bigger, stronger and older athletes do not dominate the year-end championships.

Two factors come into play. As Hart found out, being bigger is not necessarily better for a girls' cross-country runner. And as Soli might discover, runners who earn early accolades cannot always handle the mounting expectations for continued success.

"Every situation is unique, but the commonalities are that there is a physical change and a mental change," said Christie Heikes, who placed third in the state in 1989 as a freshman from Montevideo and later captained the Gophers. "One may be more of an influence than the other."

Boys don't appear to be as affected by these changes as girls. Of the top 50 finishers at each of the past five state cross-country meets, 52 percent of the girls were sophomores or younger in Class 2A. That number increases to 57 percent in Class 1A. By comparison, only 15 percent of the boys runners in Class 2A were sophomores or younger, increasing to 24 percent in Class 1A.

"There isn't another sport where you don't have to have the physical maturity," Heikes said. "You can pick out the seventh-grader who is going to be a star in soccer, but they just don't have the strength to put plays together at a higher level."

'You have to be patient'

Hart qualified for the 2005 Class 1A meet as an eighth-grader and finished 41st. Her times and rank improved in each of the next two seasons, to 26th as a freshman and eighth as a sophomore. Prior to her junior year, however, she grew three inches and gained 20 pounds. Though she made adjustments to her training and race strategy to compensate, Hart placed 23rd at state, and the finish hurt her confidence.

"She was extremely disappointed," Spartans coach Rob Donnelly said. "But I told her, 'This is part of the process this season. It doesn't mean you're less of a runner. You have to be patient.' She got through it, and she's stronger because of it."

Hart, who won the state Nordic skiing title last winter, did more skiing-oriented workouts than running this summer and started the cross-country season with less wear and tear on her legs. Her mindset was also refreshed.

"It's all about running a smarter race and just saying, 'I'm not going to be able to get these smaller girls on the flat, but where am I stronger?'" said Hart, who is ranked fifth among the state's Class 1A runners. "Probably on the hills, because I am bigger and stronger. As much as I wish I was really little, you've got to face the times."

Gophers women's cross-country coach Gary Wilson says it sometimes takes two years for a growing runner's muscles and lungs to learn to power more mass.

"As a coach you have to let the kid mature slowly instead of looking for a quick fix," he said. "One year of growth is worth two years of coaching."

Hart said she survived her unpredictable junior season with support from coaches and teammates.

"It's really important to keep the younger runners grounded because they might be good, but they have four or five more years to go -- and they will grow," Hart said. "You want to make sure they don't burn out, because that is so sad when girls who are doing really well get sick of it."

Burden of expectation

Soli placed fifth at Rosemount's Irish Invitational to start the season, leading Rebels co-head coaches Jillian Hart (no relation to Annie Hart) and Kevin Moorhead to both protect and celebrate her accomplishment.

"We talked to our team about not telling her to go out and win, but instead telling her to have a good race or simply run hard," Hart said.

Then Soli won the Maroon race at the prestigious Roy Griak Invitational, unveiling herself to the masses as an up-and-coming runner. She most recently was ranked No. 2 among the state's Class 2A runners. Still, her coaches are trying to keep her budding talents in perspective.

In 2005, six freshmen earned all-state honors for finishing in the top 25 at the Class 2A meet. Only one was named all-state as a senior last season. Three of those former freshmen did not even qualify for state as seniors.

"When we see someone like Cassidy come along, our thought is more, 'Can we keep her running through college?'" Hart said. "We want her to be the best she can be here without taking advantage of her talent and driving her into the ground."

Great expectations caught up to Heikes, who won the 3,200 meters in the Class 1A track and field meet as an eighth-grader in 1989. News of her success frequented the local newspaper. Folks in town would ask about her upcoming races while she shopped for shoes.

"I was kicking butt and taking names," Heikes said. "Then this girl named Carrie Tollefson comes along."

Tollefson, a future five-time state cross-country champion and Olympian, was two years younger than Heikes but light years ahead in terms of talent. Tollefson beat Heikes head-to-head during the 1989 season, and though Heikes placed third at that year's state meet, her confidence already was eroding.

"Everybody was like, 'She's lost it,'" Heikes said. "Even though I was running well, I couldn't wrap my head around it at age 14. I felt a great sense of disappointment in myself and my ability, and that transferred to my racing."

Heikes placed 31st at the state meet as a sophomore and did not crack the top 60 as a junior or senior.

She later ran for the Gophers, where she became captain as a senior and finally felt like the runner she was early on at Montevideo, before struggling with the attention and the emergence of Tollefson.

"It threw me for a loop and nobody could get me back on track for quite awhile," Heikes said. "But in the end, it can work out. It doesn't mean it's over."