Was at Garden Spot on Monday to watch the Spartans’ outstanding freshman track athlete, Liz Martin, in action against Lebanon. She’s having an incredible rookie season in New Holland. Here’s my column from Tuesday’s New Era:
Sometimes, big things really do come in small packages.
Liz Martin – all 5-2 and 110 pounds of her, bless her heart – is having a big freshman season for Garden Spot’s girls’ track and field team.
Try these times on for size — and while you’re at it, remember that Martin is 15 years old, isn’t the biggest kid around, and is going up against varsity competition for the first time:
Martin has the best finish in the 100-yard dash — 12.1 against Lampeter-Strasburg on April 2 — and is tied for the top spot in the 100 hurdles with Hempfield senior standout Allie Gold (15.2).
The 12.1 in the 100 is a school record, and her goal is an 11.9 – or faster.
Martin ran the 15.2 in the hurdles last Saturday in the renowned John Waggoner Invitational at Solanco, winning that race, along with the 100, which she won in 12.3.
Martin has also posted the third-best time in the 200-yard dash this spring – a 26.8 at the Hempfield Invitational, just behind McCaskey teammates Emily Dresser (26.2) and Melissa Miller (26.6).
And with a 48.9 in the 300 hurdles on Monday in Garden Spot’s 132-17 Lancaster-Lebanon League Section 2 victory over Lebanon, Martin climbed into a tie for second with Lampeter-Strasburg’s Amy Detzel, and they are just behind Warwick’s Meredith Way (48.0).
Not too shabby for a freshman – particularly the ranking in the hurdles, an event Martin, a natural sprinter, is still getting the hang of.
“It’s quite an achievement in her freshman year to sit in the top three in the league in the hurdles,” Garden Spot coach Russ White said.
Martin, who was also a standout on Garden Spot’s field hockey team last fall, said she’s gotten a few stares this spring – “yeah, I still get a few looks,” she said with a smile – but she’s quickly earning respect from the other sprinters in the area.
“It is sort of amazing how well I’m doing,” Martin said. “I’m surprised how well I’ve been doing, actually. I’m happy – but I’m surprised.”
White, who is in his 38th season with the program, isn’t. After a standout career on the middle school team, and a nice showing during the indoor season last winter, White knew Martin was coming.
And she hasn’t disappointed her coach, who, coincidentally, coached Martin’s dad, Richard, when he was at Garden Spot. Richard met his future wife, Patty, while she was also participating on the Spartans’ track team.
So Liz was born with running in her genes. Her parents were middle-distance runners in school.
“Liz is poised beyond her years and she’s a dream to coach,” White said. “When coaches start listing attributes from an athlete that you’d like to coach, you can just bring Liz out and say, ‘Let’s do it like Liz.’ She’s quite a role model for her age.
“Liz always gives maximum effort, and she’s always intense. That’s how you improve.”
Martin has crashed the sprinter’s party in her freshman season. And the scary thing is that she has three more years to keep improving.
“She’s handled the mental pressure of being the favorite … people know who she is now,” White said. “I don’t know if she’s comfortable in that role yet; that she’s the one that everyone is trying to beat. There can be some pressure there. Hopefully she’s ignoring it.”
Affirmative.
“The only thing I’m thinking about is concentrating on my race and thinking about exploding out of the blocks and doing the best I can,” Martin said. “If you want to be a good sprinter, it takes a lot of concentration and a lot of hard work.
“Sprinters are powerful people on the inside but we’re explosive – like when we explode out of the blocks – on the outside. Sprinters want to win.”
Martin has enjoyed plenty of victories already in her freshman season.
And the way she’s going, she should be making a lot of trips to the top of the medal platform in the coming years.
JEFFREY REINHART
