Ayers runs down a state title

By Jeremy Stafford - jstafford@nvdaily.com

STRASBURG -- The black sliver of ribbon waved only a few dozen yards away.
Stride by gliding stride, Strasburg runner Katlyn Ayers strode toward the finish line marking the end of the Group A state cross country meet at Great Meadow; and inch by inch, a nervous anticipation crawled up her stomach.

Might she be the first to burst through that black ribbon? Might she be a state champion? Or was there some other runner, only yards behind her, waiting to unleash a final, desperate kick to the finish?

"Oh my gosh, it was crazy," recalled Ayers, The Northern Virginia Daily's Girls Cross Country Runner of the Year. "When I started coming toward the end I was just like, 'Oh my, oh my, keep going, keep going -- I don't want anyone to pass me.'"

Ayers kept running, panting, pushing. She surged down a bright corridor of multicolored flags, then tore through the black ribbon, which fluttered to the ground in two separate pieces.

Ayers, as a sophomore, was a state champion, winning in 19:03.

And for that reason, Ayers bursts into a laughing fit when she remembers when she ran 5-kilometer races with her family years ago, long before she ever found a love for distance running and a persistent drive to win at all costs.

"My mom would take us on 5Ks, and [older sister Jaclyn] would always finish, and I was always walking," she said.

When she and her family ran a race in Guam, Ayers, exhausted, retired to the side of the road to rest on a curb nary a block from the finish line.

"I just sat on the curb and my mom had to walk me across," Ayers laughed.
During a race in the Deer River Wild Rice Festival in Minnesota, Ayers' father implored her to pick up her pace, so she might finish ahead of a group of senior citizen racers, who inched along in their walkers.

"We're not gonna let them beat us!" he called to his then 7-year-old daughter.
Not until Jaclyn, now a senior, began running cross country in the seventh grade did Katlyn express any genuine interest in distance running. And so, when in the sixth grade, Katlyn decided to follow in Jaclyn's footsteps her parents, remembering her old racing habits, were incredulous.

Ayers joined her middle school cross country team, while her older sister gave it up to play volleyball. Once again, Ayers wished to follow her sister: cross country's typical pre-race jitters, at times, were too much to take; volleyball, at times, seemed glamorous.
"I kinda hated [cross country] just because I was getting so nervous, and that's why ... volleyball sounds so good," Ayers explained. "I really like team sports, but then ... I guess I became immune to [the nervousness]."

Though she watched Jaclyn and the Rams volleyball team advance to the Group A championship match last year, Ayers felt bonded to cross country running. And it surely didn't hurt that she was winning.

As a freshman, she finished second in the Bull Run District meet, first in Region B meet and fourth in the state meet. As a sophomore, Ayers didn't once lose a race, sweeping the regular-season meets and taking first in districts, regions and states. Her state time this past season was an astonishing 23 seconds faster than her time last year.

"Success breeds success, and winning makes people want to do it even more," Strasburg coach Jeff Rudy said. "I think that speaks to her dedication and her focus as an athlete, and as a team member, and probably most importantly, as a leader."