COLONY — With only a few meets under her belt, Crest’s Josie Walter has made an impression.
Walter was named a March Athlete of the Month.
A freshman, Walter credits her cross country experience carrying over onto the track.
Walter has excelled in the 1600-meter run where she picked up a first place finish in Pleasanton with a time of 5:49.48. She followed that with another took first-place finish in the 1600 meters at the Uniontown Invitational with a finish of 5:59.01.
In Friday’s West Franklin Invitational Walter claimed second place in the 1600 meters with a time of 5:58.16.
Walter also took second place in the 800-meter run, 2:48.48, to help the Crest girls secure first place in Uniontown.
“I love running because of the competition and the challenge,” said Walter at Thursday’s Iola Invitational.
“I always have a goal going into each meet. If I don’t meet the goal on the first lap, then I aim to get it on the second one. Setting goals and being more consistent in my laps helps me train to meet those goals.”
Walter also has been working on improving her high jump.
The Lady Lancer came in fourth in the high jump at West Franklin last Friday with a leap of 4 feet, 8 inches.
Walter is hoping that she can ramp up her speed while also keeping her endurance intact this spring.
Walter will also be attending a running camp this summer to help improve her overall conditioning and cut down on her times in the longer distance runs for when cross country starts back up again in the fall.
“I feel like I’ve got the endurence, but I need to really concentrate on speed workouts,” said Walter.
“I’m not a sprinter. I enjoy long distance running more. I just always try to keep my head in the game, staying confident and ready.”
Crest head coach Kaitlyn Cummings said she is working with Walters on how to best run the 1600 meters.
