Whiteland runner Lena Shipp (767) qualified for the state meet as a freshman last season.
Daily Journal file photo
Whether it’s the difficulty of the course, intimidatingly large number of competitors or brisk conditions, the annual state meet in Terre Haute rarely aligns with one’s personal-best time.
Unless you’re Lena Shipp, that is.
Last fall, Shipp, then a Whiteland freshman, knocked nearly 20 seconds off her sectional and regional efforts from the previous two weekends to place an impressive 76th. She navigated the challenging LaVern Gibson layout in 19 minutes, 5.6 seconds.
“With all the competition, it definitely helped me,” Shipp said. “And the adrenaline, I guess. Probably about halfway through, I started to settle in. I was really shocked with my time, to PR by that much.”
A runner’s freshman season is one of numerous transitions, the most obvious being that middle school races are three kilometers compared to the 5k in high school.
Over time, Shipp adapted, and ultimately excelled.
She even pulled off one of the sport’s great rarities to open postseason competition last season, her fourth-place time of 19:25.0 at the Shelbyville Sectional being duplicated on the same layout a week later at regional to place 18th.
“This year, I feel more comfortable because I know how to run a 5k,” Shipp said. “It’s a lot harder because it’s a longer race. But after the first few races, I got used to it. I know I can just slowly get better and reach my goals.”
Last season, Shipp was the Warriors’ No. 2 runner behind senior and four-year starter Tori Jackson, who finished 34th at state and now competes as a freshman for Ball State.
Capable of being the No. 1 runner for the majority of girls cross country teams in the state as a freshman, Shipp was able to adjust, grow and gain confidence in somewhat of an under-the-radar manner due to Jackson’s presence.
“I think it definitely helped having Tori there because she was such a good influence on me,” Shipp said. “I just looked up to her because of how hard she works and races.”
No one is asking for the sophomore to be the next Tori Jackson, but rather the best version of Lena Shipp possible.
Whiteland coach Scotty Kern knows he won’t need to make such a request.
“Lena is not a young lady of many words, but she just always does everything right, whether it’s a race or a student activity at school,” Kern said. “Her temperament — unless she’s really good at hiding things from me, she’s a gamer.
“She just goes out and gets things done.”
Shipp, who began running competitively as a sixth-grader, helped the Warriors open the season with a third-place team finish at the 15-team Plainfield Relays last weekend. Individually, Shipp and teammate Isabella Fuentes combined efforts to place second.
Whiteland returns to action this Saturday morning at the Mt. Vernon Invitational.
Another course. Another opportunity.
Shipp would like her times to drop as low as the mid-18s this season, but no one is putting pressure on her.
“We’ve been talking after practices … we want Lena to go out and fight and run the best she can,” Kern said. “She doesn’t have a ceiling anymore, so let’s go out and see what she can do on her own and pull the rest of the girls to race harder.”
