This Texan Decided On A Different Approach, Then Won A Natty

* Elizabeth Leachman competes during Foot Locker Nationals on Saturday

Photo Credit: Raymond Tran/MileSplit

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By Cory Mull - MileSplit 

SAN DIEGO, Ca. -- Runners tend to avoid going against their instincts in critical situations. You trust what you know, what you've done, how you've succeeded in past situations. 

But on Saturday, Elizabeth Leachman accepted a different truth at Foot Locker Nationals, her first appearance at the famed national-title race. 

She went against routine. There would be no front-running.

While that gave the Boerne Champion (TX) sophomore some pause just 24 hours earlier, it wasn't long before her game-plan turned the corner and she was staring at the finish line tape with a chance to win a national title. 

And that's precisely what Leachman did, as she clocked the ninth-fastest time in meet history at Morley Field in 16:50.70, claiming her 11th-and-final win of the season. She became the latest Texan to win Foot Locker since Natalie Cook in 2021.

Just a week earlier, she had led Nike Cross Nationals through 4,000 meters, only to fade in the last moments and end up in 15th. 

"I definitely prefer leading as a general rule," Leachman said afterward. "I don't have a lot of trust in my kick. That's the one thing I'm a little doubtful of under usual circumstances. Taking away from today, I need to know during track and upcoming cross seasons that it's OK to race different. I won't get too caught up in that in the future." 

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Photo Credit: Raymond Tran/MileSplit

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While Leachman won her first national cross country title, the proceeding ranks caught up just 14 seconds later, with Lynchburg (VA) native Allie Zealand taking second in 17:04.50, while Ann Arbor Pioneer's Rachel Forsyth was third in 17:08.30. 

Unlike Leachman, Forsyth didn't want to stray too far from normal form, which led to the Michiganer taking out the race in the first seconds.

A week earlier, she had finished fifth at NXN -- and like Leachman, she had gone out hard in that race, too. 

"I really wanted to get after it, like I normally do," Forsyth said. "I was going for the win, but I really wanted to respond to whatever happened in the race." 

For long stretches, then, it became Forsyth's show. 

She led through the half mile, forming a gap that would grow to as much as 30 to 40 meters, then cruised into the mile at five minutes flat. 

Leachman knew she had to react, so she began to move, positioning herself into second place as the first big hill approached. 

"I really tried to focus on listening to the cues my body was giving me about how tired I was and what I felt like I could exert at what time so that I could use the race to my advantage," Leachman said. 

By the second loop, Forsyth's lead was dwindling. A series of small inclines were taking their toll on the Pioneer athlete. 

Leachman surged on a short downhill heading into the dog loop, then caught her on the turn. Forsyth's father, situated just before the two mile mark, instructed his daughter to respond to the move. 

"I definitely felt coming coming around the dog loop, I said to myself, 'I'm feeling strong,'" Leachman said. "I'm almost two miles in. This is going a lot better than last week. Not trying to let her get too far in front of me." 

Suddenly, that early apprehension floated away. Leachman's confidence swooned over the final stretch at Balboa Park. Finding more legs into the second hill, she crested the incline and then found her final gear, taking herself through the final 1K.

Very few times over the 2023 season had Leachman been out of control.

But perhaps it was in the times when she lost -- in September, when she was just a tenth of a second away from the win and on Dec. 2, when was forced to look at racing a different way -- that she began to grow considerably. 

She ripped off a stretch of seven straight wins after Woodbridge. 

Then, after being brought down to earth after NXN, she gained composure and poise right when the time called of it. 

"That's always been my strategy, going out really fast like that," Leachman said. "I didn't really expect it to end up that way doing it. But I think I really learned that different courses and different conditions mean you have to race a different kind of way." 

Photo Credit: Raymond Tran/MileSplit

ELIZABETH LEACHMAN'S POST-RACE INTERVIEW

RACHEL FORSYTH'S POST-RACE INTERVIEW

TOP PHOTOS

Photo Credit: Raymond Tran/MileSplit

HISTORY: TOP 15 GIRLS TIMES AT BALBOA PARK 

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A week wiser, Elizabeth Leachman wins Foot Locker