The goal was to run even splits; a series of 8x800s to be finished between 2:38-2:42.
When Rochester (Mich.) High senior Megan Goethals was given that workout by head coach Larry Adams on the first day of September, she took it literally. “All her runs,” recalled Adams, “were within two-tenths of a second.”
Timing is everything when it comes to competitive racing. Every training session, every race is all geared to performing your best when the competition means the most. During an eye-popping junior season last year, Goethals timed everything right. Besides attaining four individual state crowns in cross country and track at Rochester, she also had a splendid third-place showing at the Footlocker Cross-Country National Championships, and last June proved twice as nice when she took home a pair of runner-up placements in the 1,600- and 3,200-meter runs at the Nike Outdoor Nationals.
Can her breakthrough season be matched? Only time will tell.
After a summer of training where she logged an average of 55 miles a week, generally at a seven-minute clip, Goethals is at a comfortable place right now as she prepares for her final high school season on the trails and track oval.
“Last year during the summer my highest mileage for a week was 50 miles,” she said. “I’m happy where I am at.”
A smiling face on the 17-year-old Michigan runner certainly spells bad news for her competition. Goethals goes into the fall cross-country season with high expectations, where she’s looking to defend her title in the MHSAA Division I State Championship on Nov. 7 at the Michigan International Speedway. In last year’s event, Goethals sizzled to an all-time, all-class record of 17 minutes, 11 seconds for the five-kilometer distance. That time was just a mere second from her personal best that was set at the Division 9-1 Regionals only a week earlier.
Goethals(Photo, right, by Don Rich), who finished 23rd in the state as a sophomore, went into last year’s campaign with a goal to break the 18-minute barrier. She achieved that mark in the second meet of the season, taking the overall prize in the Spartan Invitational at Michigan State in a time of 17:39, one of a handful of races she would run in the 17-minute range
“I think cross country was just a big surprise,” Goethals said. “My goal for the whole season was to get near 18 minutes.”
Goethals’ cross-country season didn’t end after the state meet. She went on to capture the Midwest Regional of the Footlocker Championships and then earned All-American status with her third-place finish in the nationals, held on a challenging terrain at Balboa Park in San Diego, Calif.
“After the regional meet, I thought maybe I could finish in the top five,” Goethals said. “I thought I could do it, but it was still a surprise.”
Goethals, who owns a 3.5 GPA and is being recruited by such schools as Georgetown, Michigan State, Wisconsin and Illinois, earned state title No. 2 during the indoor season where she easily beat the field in the two mile with a 10:33 clocking.
From an individual standpoint, the indoor season was hardly a priority, though.
“I basically ran indoor to keep me racing throughout the winter,” Goethals said. “We [Adams and Goethals] were thinking we don’t want me to race too much. We train for two seasons - cross country and outdoor track.”
On the outdoor surface, Goethals was just as impressive. She achieved best of 4:47 for the 1,600 and 10:16 for the 3,200, two events she captured at the state level.
The highlight for the talented harrier came during the weekend of June 19-21 when she placed second to Greenhill (Texas) School sophomore phenom Chelsey Sveinsson in the 1,600 (4:51) and the 3,200 (10:31) at the Nike Outdoor Nationals at the University of North Carolina A&T.
Adams, who coaches the boys’ and girls’ squads at Rochester, has found some suitable training partners for his star runner. Losing nine seniors from last year’s boys‘ team, Goethal has been an occasional guest for her male teammates.
“This year she’s helping them get better. She has the best (5K) time in the entire program,” Adams said. “They like working with her. They like the fact that she’s there. They give her a little grief, but they embrace her like the other boys on the team.”
Goethals has often relied on her finishing speed in competition where she holds back and then runs negative splits during the latter part of the race. She’ll use a different approach when she toes the line this year. 
Adams is training his distance ace to be more of a frontrunner.
“I think it’s a good idea,” Goethals said. “(My old strategy) worked last year, but now people know how I run. I don’t think it’s going to work now. I do want to be stronger through the whole race.”
College and post-college competitive racing are long-term goals for Goethals( Photo, left, by Margot Kelly)
, but the focus now is on the upcoming cross-country season and the possibility of dipping under 17 minutes for the 5K distance.
“I would like to eventually become a professional runner,” she said. “But right now, I am just thinking about cross country and how I want to get back to the Footlocker Nationals. I really want to go.”
Having watched Goethals progress over the last three years, including her memorable 2008 season, Adams knows his runner will be up for the task.
“She’s just very dedicated to her training - her running, her weightlifting program, her cross training,” he said. “I don’t ever have to worry that Megan is going to lose her focus.”