Clearwater honor student Alex Lechner is a cross country runner, swimmer and one of the state's best triathletes.
By JOHN C. COTEY
Published October 19, 2003
LARGO - Alex Lechner wasn't as fast as she had hoped, but fast enough for fifth place at Thursday's Pinellas County Athletic Conference cross country championships. She did what the runners all do - walked around congratulating other finishers, talked with her parents, and gave a brief interview.
And then she was gone.
For Lechner, a Clearwater High sophomore, there was no time to loiter, and heck, no time to even stick around for the awards ceremony, where she would have been honored for her second straight All-Conference finish.
By then, she would slipping into her swimsuit for the day's next activity - a dual meet with Tornado rival Clearwater Central Catholic, where she would win one race and swim on two winning relays.
That is still not the whole story when it comes to Lechner. That would come had she, say, biked home from the swim meet.
Now that would be a day in the life in Lechner, a cross country runner by day, swimmer by night and one of the state's best triathletes by weekend.
"My (high school sports), that's almost like training for me," said the 15-year-old Lechner, who has dominated her age group in triathlons since taking up the sport four years ago.
For the third time this year, Lechner ran in a cross country meet then competed for the Tornado swim team the same night. But for an athlete who does that every weekend with zero time in between, high school competition is a breeze.
"There is plenty of time (about an hour) in between to recover, so it's not difficult at all," she said. "I'm never really tired for the swimming. It's like starting over; I feel pretty fresh."
She is tireless, her coach says, and the kind of dream athlete anyone would love to tutor. She runs for a cross country program that often cannot even field enough runners to qualify for a team score, and swims on a team that is far from one of the county's strongest. She does both with a smile.
"She's quite a package," said Clearwater cross country coach Robert Winship.
Lechner won her age group in 8 of 10 triathlons this summer, but most competitors at the PCAC cross country meet know her as a one of the county's best runners.
Last year as a freshman, she consistently finished in the top 10 at local meets. She was fifth at the district meet, 12th at regionals and in her first state appearance, took 78th.
This year, she has been equally impressive, winning the Tri-City Meet and becoming a steady top 5 finisher.
Though she is usually near the top of the standings, she has gone relatively unnoticed. Her team is never in contention, Seminole and Largo dwarf the Tornadoes in recognition, and St. Petersburg's Kerry Allen dominates the local scene.
"It can," she said, smiling, "be hard to get noticed sometimes."
Lechner is a rare breed, willing to devote her life to being an Olympic-level triathlete. She gets up every morning at 4:45 a.m. to get to the swimming pool by 5, swims until 6:30, goes to school from 7:20-1:35 p.m., runs at cross country practice from 2-3:30 p.m..
When she doesn't have a meet, the honor roll student heads home to catch up on school work and is in bed by 8:30 p.m.
There's a payoff. She was the points leader for the 15-19 age group this summer on the Coca-Cola Triathlon Series, and this year found a triathlon magazine in her mailbox that listed her as 16th best in the country for her age.
"They send it to everyone who gets ranked, so I didn't order it or anything and it just shows up one day," Lechner said of the magazine. "I was really looking through the rankings to see if any of my friends were in it, and then saw my name and just yelled "Oh My God! Mom! Come see this!' "
Lechner has moved up an age group this year, so she is eager to see where she is listed when the new rankings come out. She just bought a bike and is convinced that will make her even better.
As for cross country, she will begin her quest for a second straight state appearance at next week's district meet. She knows she'll be overshadowed by the usual suspects, though eventually people will start noticing. Just don't expect to see her at the awards ceremony.
Chances are, she'll be suiting up for her next race.
