* Allie Zealand ran a top 20 mile in March at adidas Track Nationals
Photo Credit: Mary Ann Magnant/MileSplit
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By Brett Haffner - MileSplit Correspondent
Displaying one of the indoor season's most ferocious kicks back in March, Allie Zealand signaled that she had officially arrived.
The Lynchburg, Virginia native had a huge breakthrough race at adidas Track Nationals, bringing home a national title in the girls mile championship.
But running a six-second PR was just the icing on the cake, as Zealand moved from way out of the picture -- in fourth -- to being distantly ahead of the competition by the finish line.
And that was only her second race against high school competition this indoor track season.
How did she get there? Zealand is part of a hybrid-school setting in Lynchburg, in which she's homeschooled for part of the week and attends class for the other part. There's a few stipulations that come with that schooling setup, one being that she cannot compete against high school-sanctioned competition during the regular season.
The other? Her homeschool teacher is none other than Heather Zealand, the 2002 NCAA Division I national champion in the women's mile.
"My mom's usually my teacher when I'm at school at home," Allie said. "My parents both love running, and me and my three siblings love it too, so I've been running as long as I can remember."
Both Allie's mom, Heather, as well as her dad, Josh, were runners at Liberty University in Lynchburg. That ultimately fostered a culture of running into the family dynamic.
But in addition to Allie's family lineage at Liberty University, there's another university nearby that's been rising up the ranks in NCAA Division III: The University of Lynchburg.
Jake Reed, the program's coach, also serves as a coach for a team of homeschooled runners, like Allie, her siblings, and her cousins, too.
"My cousins first told me about the team a few years ago," Allie said. "Jake has now been coaching me since eighth grade and it's been super fun to be able to run with other people near my age."
"My parents both love running, and me and my three siblings love it too, so I've been running as long as I can remember." -- Allie Zealand
Even though she doesn't get to compete in regular high school meets year-round, Allie can compete unattached in open or collegiate meets -- and that's manifested in races mainly at Liberty University, where her mom is an assistant coach for the cross country and track teams.
"Most the girls I race are from the Liberty team and from my mom coaching them," Allie said. "But when I do get to race, I usually race with my homeschool teammate Kayla Werner. It's a lot more fun racing with people I know."
That's what makes the high school national meets the most exciting for Allie: getting the opportunity to race against other girls her age.
She realized that most when last fall when she qualified for the Eastbay Cross Country Championships, doing so from the South Regional.
"I was not expecting at all to make it, I had just gotten COVID a month before the race," Allie said. "I was super grateful to have met so many talented and amazing runners. The race was super fun with the environment that they gave us."
She placed 36th, but there was some consolation to that finish: She's got two more years to improve, grow and build on her already-impressive resume.
Even with all of this momentum, nobody was more shocked than Allie about her breakthrough performance at adidas Track Nationals.
"I was hoping for top six in the race because the top six got medals at the meet," Allie said. "I tried to stay comfortable heading into the second half and the top girls were starting to slow down. I went for it to try and see what would happen and I was just having so much fun the last couple laps."
With her remarkable rise, now Allie has a lot to look forward to this outdoor season.
Namely, more opportunities to compete against the nation's best.
However, Allie understands that the process of improvement comes first, and that there's a lot more to running than just short-term success.
"It's only my second year in high school, so I want to focus on having fun and enjoying the season," Allie said. "I don't have big goals quite yet, because I accomplished so much indoors, but I'm really looking forward to the high school national meets."
So that success from indoors, Allie said, is largely a byproduct of the relationship fostered between her and her coach.
"Jake is really good and finding talent and improving upon it," Allie said. "He provides a great environment with the team and helps us focus our talents on running for God and doing things for the right purposes. Pretty much my best friends are on this team [with Jake]."
