Every week during the regular cross-country season, we highlight one girl and boy as our FROSH of the Week. These are runners who will eventually be the Class of 2019. Our old motto, "The Future Runs Now" is still very much intact as we follow the storylines, careers and future of these honored freshmen.
This week's Girl FROSH of the Week is Harmony’s Vanessa Bolen.
Early season wins at George Whitmire and the St. Cloud Invitational was just a precursor of the great season so far for Vanessa. Her 15th place showing at the Florida Mountain Dew Invitational lowered her PR to 19:36 and most recently Vanessa was 3rd at the George Jenkins Holloway Park Jamboree.
We talked to Coach Edwards on how Vanessa’s season is going so far.
“Thank you so much for selecting Vanessa Bolen as Freshman of the Week. When Vanessa joined us at school, she announced that her goal was to finally beat her long-time friend and middle school rival Allison Hicks, citing her newly acquired height advantage as her edge."
"The two ran should-to-shoulder at the opening meet at Lake Region High School, but Vanessa pulled ahead at the end. After our second meet at St. Cloud High School, Vanessa set her sights on the school record held by Chelsea Connor. Vanessa shattered her record of 19:54 by 18 seconds at the UF Mt. Dew Invitational. In the last couple of weeks she has been plagued by the cold that has made it's way through the team, but we are emerging from that and getting some quality training done.”
“Vanessa is a humble and hard-working young lady. balancing school-work, club soccer and cross country. As her coaches, our main goals are to keep Vanessa and the other girls healthy and injury-free, and to push them to see how far they can go. We definitely expect Vanessa to continue to improve.”
Our Boys Frosh of the Week is Gulf Coast’s Nick Kamen.
With the 6th fastest freshman time in the State so far this season, Nick is on the verge of going sub 17. His 17:04 at the North Port Invitational was good enough for 13th overall.
We asked Coach Adam English for a few thoughts on Nick.
“Nick is an athlete that every coach dreams of coaching. He is not only a great talent, but he works very hard to achieve and exceed his goals. Nick joined our program over the summer and put in the hard work early. Nick joined a very young, talented, and hard working team at Gulf Coast High School. He was a great fit from day one. I created a customized workout plan for Nick over the summer, and he followed the plan perfectly. The plan was to increase his mileage over the middle school program without incurring injuries nor peaking too early. In the start of the summer, he closely trailed our number one and two runners. He is now battling for the top spot on our team. "
“Nick’s goal each week is to get faster and to be the top freshman at every race. So far in every meet this season, he has accomplished his goals. We talked early in the summer that a great goal for Nick, and not an unrealistic one, would be to become the top freshman cross country runner in the State. He is currently the top ranked freshmen in the 3A Division and the 5th ranked freshmen in all classes. Although it is early, and there is a lot more work to be done, he has had an excellent start to his freshman season. Regardless of all the early success that Nick has accomplished, he still remains humble and hungry and is working hard to not only achieve his personal goals but also our team goals.”
Nick shared some thoughts on his season so far.
“When I first started training with Gulf Coast High School over the summer, it was immediately way harder than anything I had ever done before. But I knew it was necessary in order for me to meet my goals. Every week over the summer coach increased the amount of mileage per week until I was at an elite level of training. The transition from 3k to 5k was tough but my training had prepared me for it. At the North Port Invitational, my previous record had been a 17:40 and I was so happy when I came across the finish line at 17:04. That race showed me that I can do anything imaginable if I put in the work. My goal for the season is to become the number one freshman in the state of Florida. I know that if I work hard enough, this goal will be achievable.”
RELATED - SEE ALL FROSH OF THE WEEK FOR 2015 | 2014 | 2013
There are many factors that come into play when determining the "Frosh of the Week", including; time, place, rank against other freshmen, and overall impact they have on their team. We will not highlight the same Frosh more than once and the honors are purely subjective. If you wish to nominate your athlete for "Frosh of the Week" please e-mail me [email protected] with their name and why they are deserving of the honor.
