What happens to successful young girl cross country athletes as they grow older?

By Nick Gerhardt

Published Friday, October 30, 2009

The Star Tribune ran an interesting story about young female cross country runners on Tuesday and what it's like for them as they grow older.

Sometimes high school girl cross country runners peak when they are younger and fade as they get older and grow.

Of course, that's not always the case. Eden Prairie's Cassy Opitz won the state cross country meet last season as a senior and Perham's Maddie McClellan is top ranked runner in Class A as a senior.

It's an interesting read given that Albert Lea's Chrissy Monson has been a phenom the past two seasons in cross country and track. Monson qualified for the Class 2A state meet for the second year in a row Thursday with a second-place finish at the Section 1AA meet in Owatonna.

I asked her a little about it and she's talked before about how she's heard people say similar things before, but she doesn't really worry about.

Assistant cross country coach Lon Nelson read the story and mentioned he didn't think it would be a problem with Monson as she grows older. His concern is her knees now, but he said those will get better as she ages.

Besides she's got a determination and tenacity unlike many freshmen and those qualities don't change.