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King senior is cross-country runner of the year

Laura Bowerman doesn't let an ankle injury slow her charge to the state title and elite status.

TAMPA - There is an old sports saying: It doesn't matter how you get there, it's what happens at the end of the season.

Try telling that to King's Laura Bowerman.

Bowerman began her senior season in blazing fashion, winning the USF/Jesuit Invitational and the Don Bishop Invitational at Brandon High. She showed plenty of speed early, running a 5K at USF in 17 minutes, 42 seconds, and established herself as one of the elite runners in the state.

Then, during the final part of her final interval in a late-September workout, Bowerman's ankle buckled. The pain shot up her Achilles tendon and into her left calf.

"That's when I knew it was a more severe sprain," Bowerman said.

The next two weeks she relied on pool workouts to keep up her heart rate, an attempt to salvage the conditioning she had worked for all summer. Every day after school she "paddled around" in the deep end of the pool in her backyard, her floatation vest and heart monitor attached.

The setback caused her to miss the Great American Festival in Cary, N.C., and the flrunners.com race on the state course. She returned in time for the district race, which she won.

"When I got injured I tried to be positive and tell myself that maybe it helped me," said Bowerman, who ran 18:41 her first race back. "I told myself it would give me some rest and let me regain some focus."

The next week Bowerman won her region meet in 18:57 and cruised into the state championships, slightly weaker but still a favorite. She showed why.

Bowerman blew away the Class 3A field, winning by 28 seconds and quietly admitting she didn't feel pushed during the race. Her time of 18:07 was a state course record - for a little while.

"Yeah, I held it for about a half hour," Bowerman said. "Then Jenny (Barringer) came along. I knew she was going to beat it."

Barringer, who has since run the second fastest girls 2-mile time in Florida, ran a 16:55 to regain the record. But, Bowerman said, the season was still a success. Even if it didn't go exactly the way she planned.

"I think it would be more ideal if I didn't get injured," Bowerman said. "But, overall, it was a good year. I'm happy with it."