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UMW's Hazlett blazes new trail
Former tennis standout makes a successful transition to cross country despite little experience.
Date published: 9/2/2006
By KURT NICOLL
There is little doubt that Allison Hazlett is a gifted and multifaceted athlete, though her training techniques appear a bit unorthodox at times and have produced some undesired consequences.
The 21-year-old biology major at the University of Mary Washington is looking to return to the NCAA Division III cross country championship meet this fall and intends to take her team with her. The senior has been slowed in the preseason with a strained quad in her left leg, but insists the injury will not stop either her or the Eagles.
"The injury was stupid because I wasn't stretching properly," Hazlett said, referring to an incident that occurred last April prior to the Capital Athletic Conference track meet. "You do little things like that and you don't think about it right away how much it could affect you. And I ran on it at [the conferencemeet], too, and put a lot of stress on it."
Eagles coach Stan Soper needs a healthy Hazlett if the Eagles are to qualify for the national meet as a team for the first time in 16 years. The opportunity is there: The qualifying from regional competition has been increased from one to two teams. But with only 11 runners, there is little room for error or serious injuries.
"I feel good with the group we have, it's just a matter of staying healthy with Allison being nicked right now, but we're optimistic that she will be feeling much better a month from now," the veteran coach said. "Hopefully we will be able to get everybody out there. I think we have a strong group."
A year ago, Hazlett made an unusual move, She gave up tennis, a sport she had been playing competitively for 12 years, to try cross country, even though she had never run in a competitive race.
Said Soper: "I had no idea what she was going to be like. When she asked about coming out, I said, 'Sure, if you want to, I don't know.'"
"Over the summer [of 2005], she was telling me what she was doing to get ready training and so forth and as soon as I heard this, I got excited, but at the same time, I got very nervous because she was doing some things that were kind of unrealistic for what we typically do during summer training.
"It was obvious that she had a lot of ability," he added. "I was just concerned if she was going to hold up physically."
Looking back, Hazlett agreed she may have overtrained a bit. Despite impressive times in practice and early in the season, her junior year was nearly derailed by a bout of mononucleosis, which she theorizes occurred to a weakened immune system due to her intense training.
The Pittsburgh native managed to regain her strength and stamina in the nick of time, though, achieving a top-five finish at the regional competition to qualify individually for nationals.
Date published: 9/2/2006
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