Following all-time freshman 2-mile performance with 9:57.65 effort at Nike Outdoor Nationals, Leachman looks to capture UIL 5A state title in Texas and secure first qualifying berth for NXN

By Keenan Gray of DyeStat

Elizabeth Leachman was just as shocked as anyone when she crossed the finish line June 18 in the girls 2-mile championship race in 9 minutes, 57.65 seconds at Nike Outdoor Nationals at Hayward Field in Eugene, Ore. 

The rising star from Boerne Champion High in Texas became the first prep freshman female athlete to eclipse the 10-minute barrier in the 2-mile, lowering the ninth-grade national record of 10:04.73 achieved in 2017 by fellow Texan London Culbreath of McKinney North. 

More importantly, Leachman was fortunate enough to finish the race without physical limitations.

The transition to the high school ranks wasn’t as easy for Leachman throughout her freshman year in both cross country and track. While she showed early signs of great potential, there were others of inconsistency.

During the fall during cross country season, Leachman was bothered by an on-and-off nagging hip problem, limiting her from competing at 100 percent at times.

“It was there in the fall, I don’t think the consistency sometimes was there,” Boerne Champion coach Jonathan Tate said. “We couldn’t get her to where she was consistently being able to run.”

After her first 5-kilometer cross country race when she ran 18:16.7 at the Feast Invitational, Leachman ran slower a week later at the Cedar Park Invitational by clocking 19:05.6.  She rebounded to run an improving 17:45.5 for a 3-mile race at the McNeil Invitational, but again, fell back, running 19:15.7 in another 5-kilometer competition at her 5A regional meet, before placing 20th at the UIL state final.

Adjustments were made, but nothing seemed to work, resulting in Leachman finishing her freshman season in disappointment, including a 49th-place finish at NXR South in November, when she had hoped to advance as an individual qualifier to compete at Nike Cross Nationals. 

Heading into the offseason, coach Tate and Leachman sought out other ways to improve her training, even if it meant backing away from actual running.

Leachman, who happens to be a big fan of reigning NCAA Division 1 5,000-meter champion Parker Valby, remembered the type of work the Florida standout incorporates into her training.

“From kind of battling that hip problem all season, I guess I kind of just took away that whatever I did with my training needed to be different,” Leachman said. “After NXR, I started cross training on my easy days.”

In an era of different training regimens, cross training and low mileage have proven beneficial for elite level athletes, such as Valby.

Leachman began including different forms of cross training, such as the elliptical, biking and aqua jogging. After a few weeks, she saw instant results.

“I tried to run a 5K after that to see how I felt. I felt a lot better, so I just kept doing that,” Leachman said.

Weeks of new training had passed, and the intensity of workouts picked up rapidly for Leachman. Coach Tate saw the benefits from afar.

“My simple mind just says, ‘What difference does it matter if you’re running or not?’” Tate said. “I get there are advantages to running in terms of the development and the things that are happening with bones getting stronger, but in terms of aerobic capacity, and getting blood to circulate to repair, what’s the difference? And the way she does it, she cross trains really hard.”

Leachman put her limits to the test later that winter when she toed the line at The Armory in New York for the Nike Indoor Nationals girls 2-mile championship race.

In a field featuring rising stars Sophia Rodriguez, who will race as a freshman this fall with Mercer Island High in Washington, and sophomore Addison Ritzenhein from Colorado powerhouse Niwot, Leachman held her own, finishing seventh overall in an impressive 10:31.65. 

“Athletes have to be really fine-tuned,” Tate said. “She just puts work in week after week after week on top of one another and you’ve seen this accelerated improvement where she’s able to get closer to her full potential.”

A massive personal-best effort for Leachman at Nike Indoor Nationals was the key to staying the course with her newly added training heading into the outdoor season. 

As the season progressed in the spring, Leachman excelled in different ways, getting faster and stronger every race she ran, especially the 1,600.

From running 5:23.22 as an eighth grader, Leachman dropped a significant amount in her 1,600 time at the Clyde Littlefield Texas Relays in early April, running 4:52.46 to break the 5-minute barrier for the first time.

“I was just trying to go out there and give it what I had,” Leachman said. “I didn't expect to improve as much as I did.”

Everything was going Leachman’s way throughout the season, but another hiccup created a new challenge to overcome. 

The same week Leachman was set to compete at her regional meet to qualify for state, she came down with an illness and was fatigued again. While racing the 3,200, with less than 300 meters remaining and holding the lead, she collapsed, unable to finish.

Race officials rushed her off the track and doctors attended to Leachman to see if anything was magnified from the fall. Rest assured; the situation wasn’t as severe as everyone initially thought.

Leachman was sent home to refuel and recover from her accident. After discussions with her parents, doctors said she would be OK to run if she chose to do so. Leachman, with the approval of her parents and coaches, decided to give the 1,600 a go the next day.

“She’s driven as they come,” Tate said. “She’s figured out a way to channel that drive I think in a healthy way. And you see the results of it…She wants to be the absolute best she can be.”

Unlike the 3,200, the 1,600 was a different outcome. The next day, she had won the race and qualified for state.

At state, Leachman found another way to persevere, running a lifetime-best 4:47.28 in the 1,600 to capture her first 5A state championship, a momentum builder heading into Nike Outdoor Nationals.

In a year full of ups and downs, her hard work and minor setbacks built up to the defining moment of her freshman season: breaking 10 minutes for 2 miles at Hayward Field.

“It was so special,” Leachman said. “The energy there was just great with all the lights and the music. It was really exciting.”

Leachman’s efforts at Nike Outdoor Nationals garnered the attention of those across the country, especially those in the Nike Elite Program. Leachman, along with 39 other high school athletes, was selected for a one-of-a-kind initiative designed to help athletes reach their goals and potential.

“We see what the potential is,” Tate said. “If we keep her on track, where’s this going to take her? And I tell her it can take her wherever she wants it to take her.”

Growth and maturity carried Leachman way beyond her goals as a freshman. By changing her training method, it allowed her to become one of the top distance runners in the country.

“I do feel a lot healthier,” Leachman said. “I'm not as tired on the days that I have to put the work in. I feel like my body is really ready to go and get after it.”

Still, Lechman has much to prove as an individual this fall in order to become one of the top cross country runners nationally. 

One of the goals she hopes to reach is to advance to NXN, showing she does belong with the nation’s elite.

“That’s always been my goal was to get to a meet like that,” Leachman said. “I used to watch all those videos from when Katelyn Tuohy would run at Nike, and I always thought that would be the most fun. To really have a chance to be competitive there would be really cool.”