Cross country is a sport of ups and downs.
Just like a race course has peaks and valleys, so can a runner.
Everyone has bad races. Some have bad months. Injuries can lead to a bad year.
That’s what makes the course of Alexis Fuller’s high school career so amazing. It has stayed at one level — Flat and fast.
On Nov. 8, the Union senior grabbed her fourth top-three finish at the Class 4A state cross country championships. That followed her second victory at the district meet, a race she has never placed worse than second.
For her accomplishments, Fuller is The Columbian’s All-Region girls cross country runner of the year.
In a career marked by consistency, Fuller’s senior year was likely her best considering the demands she juggled.
The season was peppered with official recruiting visits to five NCAA Division-I schools. She traveled to South Carolina for Clemson, California for Azusa Pacific and Santa Clara, Utah, Boise State and Oregon State.
“It was actually really difficult,” Fuller said. “Going on the visits was great. I had a blast when I was on them. But I’d come home for two days, then have to fly out again. It was also weird team-wise, only being at practice twice a week.”
She chose Boise State, verbally committing to the Broncos just before the state meet.
“Of all the schools I visited, it was the one that I had a gut feeling about,” Fuller said. “It was the school where I felt I would fit in. I loved the team, the coaches, everything about it.”
But as all-encompassing running can be, Union coach Scott Eschels said Fuller draws strength from keeping balance in her life.
“She has interests and friends outside of running,” said Eschels, mentioning Fuller’s involvement in her church’s youth group. “She knows when it’s time to go hard and when it’s chill time. When she did have a bad race, that really helped her manage the ups and downs.”
Fuller’s bad races were few and far-between. She has avoided injuries during her career thanks again to consistency in her training.
Fuller doesn’t go overboard with mileage during the season, rarely surpassing 40 miles per week. But she also doesn’t let herself fall out of shape during the offseason.
“Going three-and-a-half years without a significant injury says a lot about her genetic makeup,” Eschels said. “But it’s also because she has been really smart about increasing her mileage.”
Fuller shows you don’t have to be a mileage maniac to run with the lead pack. After being near the front for four years, Clark County cross country won’t be the same without her.
Rest of the All-Region team
• Savanna Craig, so., Mountain View
• Jamie Ferris, sr., Prairie
• Emma Jenkins, fr., Camas
• Courtney Owens, so., Washougal
• Alissa Pudlitzke, sr., Camas
• Emily Wilson, fr., Camas
