04/26/2008
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Augusta panel OKs Tractor Supply store
Beverage-tax foes outraise proponents
BUDGET REJECTED
Little Papi's big dream comes true
RICHMOND Fireworks highlight festival
RANDOLPH OPTING TO SAVE
LOCAL BASEBALL ROUNDUP: Augusta wins easily
Zone 2 playoffs start today
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WATERVILLE Man invades home on Western Avenue
Official defends Woodlands
EMBDEN THIEVES TAKE PART OF DOCK Materials taken belonged to summer swim program for 9 area communities
Drawdown rate depends on rain
Highland Plt. to vote on move toward deorganization
Beverage tax foes far ahead in funding
Former Colby standout back in Maine
ZONE 2 TOURNEY SET TO START
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But the best story from King's track and field coach comes from the indoor track season. Deb Aitken had a distance medley team that could qualify for the national championships, but only if King was running the mile.
The problem was that King had also qualified for the nationals as an individual in the mile, and she wouldn't be able to go all out in both because the trials were so close together.
"She very unselfishly agreed to run the distance medley relay, and that really, in my opinion, is who Anna King is," Aitken said. "She's very much an individual, but she really cares about her friends and she's so totally unselfish."
As a postscript, Colby was 10th entering King's leg of the relay. She made up nearly a lap on three teams, boosting Colby to seventh and earning distance medley relay team All-American status.
King has been doing things like that her entire career at Colby. In all four years, she has done cross country as well as indoor and outdoor track, and has qualified for nationals in 11 of her 12 seasons.
Being a three-sport athlete was actually a break for King. As a senior at St. Thomas Aquinas High School in Dover, N.H., she was a five-sport athlete -- cross country, soccer, indoor track, outdoor track and alpine skiing. She ended up at Colby in large part because Aitken gave her extra attention.
"She played soccer, and she ran cross country races when she was available as an extra thing. She also only did two or three indoor races," Aitken said. "I guess the real attraction for me was simply the fact that here's a kid with real natural talent that hasn't really been developed much at all.
"I just believed that I had a training program that would let someone with her natural talent really excel, and pretty much, that's what's happened."
King hasn't always loved running, but now it is clearly her thing. She's a sociology/pre-med major, so between the courseload, training and practices, she's always busy.
"It's been a real challenge," King said. "It never really occurred to me that I shouldn't do a season. I sort of just learned how to balance everything.
"It's a lot of sacrifice. I mean, I won't say that I have the best social life or the most fun, but I wouldn't have it any other way. I wouldn't go back and change anything, because if I didn't do running, I know I'd wish I would have. Running is my passion."
King has balanced things well enough that she'll be heading to Dartmouth in July to do her master's program. On Thursday, she will be presented the Marjorie D. Bither Award, which is given annually to a Colby senior and is based on academic and athletic ability as well as leadership in sports and at Colby.
"She is probably the most studious person I've ever had on my team, and I have teams and teams and teams of very conscientious, studious individuals," Aitken said. "But Anna King is the epitome of the student-athlete. Almost every waking minute that she's not running, she's studying."
King currently has the fastest 5K time in New England, but her lasting mark will be in the 3K steeplechase. She broke the school record in the steeplechase as a freshman, then broke her own record each of the next two years.
The steeplechase is an odd event, with 71/2 laps of an obstacle course with five hurdles and a water pit. And yes, King says she has "gone swimming" in the pit a few times.
"I can't say that it's fun during the race, but afterwards, you sort of get this great feeling of accomplishment, because it's such a hard race," King said. "Not only are you running two miles as fast as you can, but you're jumping over 35 hurdles in the meantime."
The event is hard enough on its own, but gets worse at nationals, where King finished seventh as a freshman and 10th as a sophomore. More than a dozen competitors are clustered together, and the mental aspect outweighs the physical part.
"Nationals is just a crazy event," King said. "You never know what's going to happen. People are falling down all over the place.
"Then you get to the water pit, and there's someone right in front of you. You want to jump ahead of them, but you can't -- you have to wait for them to go in front of you. It's more of a strategic race when you get to nationals.
"All of these girls who are in your race, you're all the same speed. You all have the same abilities. So it's just about who's going to run the smartest race."
The nationals will be held May 22-24 in Oshkosh, Wis., so King has a few more races to boost her seed and find ways to shave off a few seconds in the steeplechase.
A national championship is a real possibility, as is a top-eight finish, which would make her an All-American.
"I never expected to do that well coming into college," King said. "I don't know, I could potentially leave here with four All-Americans. I don't know what to say. It's pretty sweet."
Matt DiFilippo -- 861-9243
mdifilippo@centralmaine.com
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