By CHRISTOPHER TREMBLAY, Staff Sports Writer

Having enjoyed taking part in sports growing up, Sutton’s Annie Lamoreaux was hoping to continue participating in the events when she got into Middle School. However, the sixth grader soon found out that there really wasn’t too many options for her.

“The only sport that was opened was cross country that year so I decided to give it a try and I found that I enjoyed it,” she said. “The next year they offered track; I liked cross country and figured that it was similar so I gave it a try. I had never run before and enjoying sports I wanted to do something.”

 

Lamoreaux soon found that she really enjoyed running, both cross country and track gave her the sense of taking part in an individual sport, but one that was also contingent upon the team as well.

During her first season running track she found herself to be very nervous and didn’t break out of her shell until closer to the end of the season when she finally started to win some meets. That season the then seventh grader was participating in the mile and the 4 x 100 relay (an event that she said she much regretted as she found that she was not a sprinter). Lucky for her, by the next season Sutton had a bunch of sprinters come in so she didn’t have to continue that event, instead she moved over to the 4 x 400 relay, an event she found herself to like much better.

“It all seems silly now, but all the older kids intimidated me and I figured that they would just blow me out,” Lamoreaux said. “Eventually I realized that I didn’t need to worry about them, instead I just needed to go out and run my own race.”

Upon entering the high school this year, Lamoreaux has focused on running the mile and taking part in the 4 x 400, where she runs the first leg of the event. While there is pressure on her to go out and set the tome for the rest of her teammates she doesn’t let it bother her.

“It worries me at times, but I can only work hard and do my best hoping that it sets my team up for success,” she said.

As a seventh grader running the mile Lamoreaux posted a personal best of 6:15, thus far in her first year on the varsity track team the freshman has a personal best time of 5:30. 

“I really love running the mile; it’s the perfect distance not too short and not too long – it allows me to build up my speed,” the freshman runner said. “I’ve been able to lower my times as I started pacing myself, consistently trying to accomplish my next goal. I go out and focus on my race and improving my time.”

Coach John Sutton has been able to see what his freshman miler could do in the past and believes she can only get better as the years go on.

“I had Annie as a cross country runner in the middle school, she has always been a great runner that works extremely hard. Back then she was really quiet; it’s nice to see that she has come out of her shell this year,” the Sutton Coach said. “She has had almost a linear improvement throughout this year where she has had a pr (personal record) in most of the races she has done.”

Stone continued to note that Lamoreaux seems to do well when the competition around her is similar in time and she knows what she has to do to succeed. 

Lamoreaux has a strategy in mind when she steps onto the blocks.

“During my first lap I don’t want to go too hard, but I do want to go a little faster than I normally would to set myself up for the rest of the race,” she said. “I pace myself the next two laps before I kick it into high gear during the fourth lap going real hard and hopefully I’ll catch some kids in front of me.”

During the season the freshman has put together a rather successful campaign winning all but a few of her races while qualifying to take part in the State Tournament in the 1000, the mile and the 4x400 relay. She will only participate in the mile and 4x400 at the Tournament. 

With the rest of this season as well as three more years of running track for Sutton High School Lamoreaux’s next goal is to drop her time down to 5:20 and then she wants to go after the school record of 5:17.

“I would rally like to get that record,” she said. “I think it would be really cool to see my name on the school record board.”

Her coach believes that the record is something that is within Lamoreaux’s reach.

“I think that she’ll continue to do well as she really loves running,” Stone said. “I see her improving on a regular basis with her drive. She has a very bright future in front of her."