09.19.07
High school girl athlete of the week: Candace Carlson
candace (north)Originally uploaded by andynoise
High school girl athlete of the week: Candace Carlson * junior/North
What she did: Won the Sanger Invitational in 18:34, as timed by her coach.
Coach Byron Rhodes says: “I think she could have gone faster (at Sanger). I think she’s going to get faster as the season goes on. I’m really looking forward to seeing what Candace can do.”
Pain-free and perfect
North junior off to a healthier start this season with victories in her first 4 races
BY JEFF EVANS, Californian staff writer
e-mail: jevans@bakersfield.com | Wednesday, Sep 26 2007 9:05 PM
Last Updated: Wednesday, Sep 26 2007 9:11 PM
North High junior Candace Carlson says she replays the 1980 Queen hit “Another One Bites the Dust” in her head when she’s preparing for cross country meets.
She said that’s because it gives her the inspiration to leave the opposition in the dust.
On Saturday, Carlson made it 4-for-4 in first-place finishes this season at the Wolf Pack Invitational.
Her time of 19 minutes, 9 seconds on the 5-kilometer course at The Park at River Walk was 30 seconds faster than runner-up Brianna Diaz of Delano.
Carlson is just happy to be healthy enough to compete this season.
One year ago, she suffered a right hamstring injury in North’s first meet of the year, and that kept Carlson out of action until late in the season.
During the track season, Carlson was hampered by a sore knee, which affected her performance in the 1,600- and 3,200-meter events.
“I took one to two weeks off, then started training for cross country,” Carlson said of her after-track season rest. “I started feeling a lot better.”
Carlson said she’s competing pain-free this season and added that she expects to improve her times as the season progresses.
“I’d like to be under 18 (minutes for five kilometers) by November,” she said.
The combination of distance and speed work over the summer has prepped her for this season.
“I’d run maybe 5 miles a day, but some days I’d run 10 miles,” Carlson said.
She has victories in the Fresno-McLane Invitational and Sanger Invitational, and Carlson also placed first last week in a dual meet against West.
In that race, she broke a 12-year-old school record for North’s course held by Tracie Dumler since 1995.
“She loves to compete,” said Byron Rhodes, North’s first-year cross country coach. “She really gets after it.”
As a freshman and sophomore, Carlson competed under the direction of Darin Sundgren, who was North’s coach from 1995-2006.
“Her freshman year she did great,” Sundgren said of the 2005 season, adding that Carlson benefitted from having a teammate, Amanda Montgomery, who was The Californian’s All-Area runner of the year that season. “She paced off her all that year.”
Despite the injury-plagued sophomore season, Sundgren noted that Carlson still had a solid year.
He said Carlson had the best times of any Kern County athlete at the Central Section and state championship meets.
Carlson became interested in running as a second grader, according to her father, Scott Carlson.
“She said she wanted to run and I wasn’t excited about the idea,” Scott Carlson said. “Finally, I said, ‘If you can run a mile without stopping, I’ll sign you up.’
“Well, she ran the mile and wasn’t even tired, so I said, ‘OK.’”
Carlson’s presence is felt by other runners who compete against her.
Stockdale senior Ashley Nolasco placed third at Saturday’s Wolf Pack Invitational in 20:11, just over a minute behind Carlson.
“She’s a good inspiration,” Nolasco said. “She’s a very good runner. At the end of the year, I want to see if I’m close to her.”
Carlson has easily placed first in her four meets thus far this season. Her father said he’s looking forward to seeing her compete against strong runners from other areas.
Rhodes said he has entered Carlson and his top boy runner, Cody Gragg, in the individual sweeps category of the Mount San Antonio Invitational on Oct. 20 in Walnut, a meet that attracts some of the best runners in the state.
On Friday, North competes at the Golden West Invitational in Visalia.
“The Clovis schools usually show up there, so she may get some good challenges there,” Rhodes said.
Carlson had a time of 19:37 at the McLane Invitational at Woodward Park in Fresno. That’s the course where the Central Section and state championship meets will be held to conclude this season.
At last year’s Central Section championships, Carlson clocked 19:24, and she had a 19:14 at the state meet.
“She’s right where we want her to be,” Rhodes said.
“She ran almost as fast there this year as she did last season. I think running in the 18s on that course is a realistic goal for her. Obviously, we’re looking for improvement.”
