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Group effort drives Gaither relay team to finish line
By TERRY JONES NORTHDALE -- With graduation, college selection, senior prom and other senior activities either on going or only a few weeks away and occupying her time, Kate Truesdale still has a time-consuming priority on her mind. She wants to help guide the Gaither High School 4x800-meter relay team to a new school record and a high finish in the state tournament. The school record is 9 minutes, 42 seconds, and right now the current Cowboy relay team is fifth in the school record book with 9:53.2. That was the time recorded in the state meet last year. Truesdale, a four-year starter for the Cowboys, has been working hard on the track to cut her best time for her leg of 800 meters of two minutes, 18 seconds. That was her time last year as a junior in the state meet. Her personal goal is 2:12. She was chosen for MVP honors in the Nash Higgins Relays on March 8 for her outstanding performance in the overall competition. Truesdale anchored the Cowboys' 4x100, 2-mile and distance medley relays in the meet. The Cowboys' biggest hope in the state meet scheduled for May, is the 4x800. Also part of the fast relay is Heather Dickson, Shilah Rose and Amanda Quick. "Kate is a very quiet person with a sweet nature," Gaither girls coach Ladd Baldwin said. "She helps encourage her teammates and would rather do that than talk about herself, but she is a good leader by example. Several colleges are recruiting her, but I don't know where she will end up attending." Even though Truesdale is a senior, she is the only senior on the 4x800 team, so the unit has a chance to do well for some time into the future. Dickson is a three-year runner and still only a junior. She won the district championship for the mile run last year. She made the 4x800 relay as a freshman and ran her leg in a time of 2:22 in the state last year. Rose is a sophomore. She also runs the individual 400 and 800 meters and has a relay split time of 2:31. Quick is the newest member of the relay and also new to public school. Just seven months ago the freshman was very nervous about attending classes with different teachers and competing in sports with older, highly skilled athletes. Until last fall, she was home schooled and her mom was her only teacher. Even though she was home schooled, she was given special permission to compete in track at Pineview Middle School in Land O' Lakes. "I was very nervous about being around so many students at Gaither and having several teachers all in a single day," Quick said. "In Pineview I always won the races I ran in and now I run against some of the best around. Running cross country helped me to get used to team sports and school. They were all nice to me even as a freshman. The track team is the same and coach Baldwin is great and very understanding." Amanda turned out to be one of the top cross country runners in the state, even as a freshman, Baldwin said. "She made the all-County team too." In addition to her running skills, Truesdale has done exceptionally well with academics. While taking honors courses, her GPA is 5.36. So far she has made official visits to the University of South Florida, the University of Tampa, Florida State and Concordia University. She also is planning to make an official visit to the University of Florida. "Please realize, I am only one member of the relay team," Truesdale said. "Shilah, Heather and Amanda are very important parts of it and they will be around to make it even better next year."
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