COLONY — Crest cross country runner Aubrey Allen helped her team take third place overall at the 1A state meet in Wamego last month… all with her arm in a splint.
It’s impressive in itself that Allen was able to run the 5K race in 22 minutes — earning her 24th place — but even more so that she was able to do it with her arm bound up. The freshman had injured her elbow in P.E. class the week before the state meet when she went for a runaway ball and crashed into the cinder block wall.
According to Allen, she was able to retrieve an errant ball during a basketball game when she tripped.
“I pushed it back in bounds but then tripped over my shoe and somersaulted into the wall,” she said. “My elbow hit first, then my arm.”
With her arm in a splint, her running style was limited. “I had a lot less mobility. I had to run with my shoulder, not my whole arm.”
Running requires the arms to pump up and down to push the body forward in hopes of using a mix of aerodynamics and momentum to dash at full speed. Instead, the freshman was forced to use her shoulder to pump her arms.
“It really affected me going up hills because you have to pump your arms really fast and hard,” Allen said. “I had to use my shoulder more and that was really uncomfortable. I’m not used to moving my shoulder like that.”
Allen also helped her Lady Lancers win the 1A regionals with a seventh place finish time of 22:33. It certainly helps that she has been running cross country since seventh grade but even as a freshman Allen has taken the 1A division by storm.
Crest also won the Three Rivers League title prior to regionals. Allen placed in fifth place with a time of 22:21.
“AUBREY’S gotten better each race,” said Crest head coach Kaitlyn Cummings. “She has that drive to be competitive and she wants to be better. She keeps pushing herself to do so. Aubrey is our third runner which is the most important slot because her score matters to everyone. Her being in the top-10 at regionals really helped us win the region.”
The struggle of running with a splint around her arm at the state meet has taught Allen a lot about adversity and dealing with obstacles.
“No matter what, you have to push yourself,” said Allen. “You have to get out of your head and just do it, just run with your heart. I think I would have gotten 20th place had I had more movement with my arm. I wouldn’t want to do it again.”
As Allen’s coach, Cummings said she was hesitant to let Allen run the state race in her condition, but knew how much it meant to the Lady Lancer to be involved in the competition. The head coach took the necessary precautions and ultimately decided it was safe enough for Allen to run.
“I wanted to make sure that she was safe and comfortable running with the splint,” said Cummings. “My first priority was to make sure she was OK and healthy enough to run at state. Aubrey is a tough and competitive girl so she was going to run through it either way. I had to tell her she would have to go out and run like she normally does.”
Only time will tell what Allen’s true potential looks like with three more years of high school cross country still to come.
