Pushing the pace

New Town’s Shanice Lambert outdistances competition at Andrew Crockett

By T.J. ALLICK, Staff Writer tallick@minotdailynews.com
Being a distance runner isn’t for everyone.

It takes not only tremendous amounts of hard work in preparation, but it also calls for a love of running.

New Town’s Shanice Lambert has no shortage of either hard work or dedication and they both paid off Thursday at the Bishop Ryan Andrew Crockett Memorial Track and Field Meet. Lambert, who is just sophomore, outdistanced the competition to win both the 1,600- and 3,200-meters by five-second margins at Herb Parker Stadium.

Not even a sudden drop in temperature between the two races affected her output. In fact, she said the weather plays little factor.

“It doesn’t really matter, whatever weather it is, I’ll run,” Lambert said. “I love to run, whether it’s cold or hot. As long as I can, I’m out running.”

Lambert won the 1,600 with a state-qualifying time of 5:31.03, which was exactly five seconds faster than Rugby’s Sydney Kraft’s time of 5:36.03. She jumped out front from the start of the race and kept her pace out ahead of the field, a strategy that also worked in the 3,200.

“That’s how I go every time,” she said. “I start strong and I try to pace some of my teammates and other people, like today in the two mile.”

In the two mile, Lambert bested the field with a time of 12:01.33, which was just over a second off of her season-best time. After jumping out front at the start, she kept a steady pace throughout until she realized there was only one lap remaining. From there she hit another gear and pulled for another five second win, this time ahead of Williams County’s Kelsey Lambrecht, who second with a time of 12:06.64.

“It’s a hard core run, so I just get a good start and finish strong,” said Lambert of the two mile. “I get mixed up on the laps sometimes, and my coach kind of gets after me sometimes about it, but I’m just out there to run.”

“It seems like she does that a lot, so I just keep telling her go until I tell you stop,” New Town head girls coach Ethen Askvig said.

Askvig said that Lambert’s attitude and work ethic is what sets her apart in the distance events.

“You have to work hard and be there to put in the miles, she does that and it shows in the meets,” he said. “She puts in her miles, runs on the weekends and I think she has a blast doing it, which is always good. Plus she’s just a great person and she’s a great girl to have on the team.”

NT placed eighth overall as a team, while Minot High won the event with a total score of 202, followed by Velva (107), Rugby (80), Des Lacs-Burlington (70) and Watford City (44) in the top 5. MHS head coach Michelle Boyeff said the Majettes entered the meet in hopes of getting a few more girls qualified for state, which was exactly what happened, as girls qualified.

“The reason we entered (the event) was because we are really short on meets this year,” Boyeff said. “It gave the girls another opportunity to compete and try to qualify.”

Erin Obenchain (discus), Brianna Kraft (javelin), Whitney Mayer and Katelyn Larson (300 hurdles) all became new qualifiers, along with four girls, Stephanie Greer, Brecca Wahland, Kelsey Beck and Courtney Jacobsen, in the 800.

On the boys side, only three points separated first through third place. Parshall edged out Williams County for first place overall with a team score of 79. Williams County was second (78) and Des Lacs-Burlington placed third with a score of 76.