Girls' Athlete of the Year: Menlo's Lizzie Lacy

Not only does Lacy’s time rank as the eighth best in Central Coast Section history, it ranks as the best time ever recorded by a CCS runner from San Mateo County. Not bad, considering it was her first season with the Menlo track team.

“I was really stressed because I never really liked track,” Lacy said. “I always complained to my coach I don’t like running in circles.”

Not that Lacy doesn’t have running experience. The reason she didn’t run track prior to this year was her three seasons with the Menlo girls’ lacrosse team. But her fall sport was certainly her best, as the four-year cross-country standout closed her career with a CCS Division IV cross-country title and a third-place finish in the CIF Division IV race.

All the while, Lacy stayed true to her soccer roots, finishing out a four-year career as a varsity defender by helping the Knights to the CCS Division III semifinals.

Because of her historic career as one of the county’s elite all-time distant runners, Lacy has been named the Daily Journal Girls’ Athlete of the Year.

The constant throughout Lacy’s athletics career has been Jorge Chen, who serves as her personal coach in both cross country and track. He initially coached Lacy at Menlo’s middle school when she joined the soccer team in sixth grade. Some three years later, he convinced the fleet-footed Lacy to join the cross-country team.

Cross country proved to be a fortuitous path as, last December, Lacy committed to Amherst College in Massachusetts to compete at the Division III school in three sports — cross country, indoor track and outdoor track. Her college commitment had everything to do with her joining the track team this year at Menlo.

“Because I did cross country, I felt like there was some expectation for me running track,” Lacy said. “And I was afraid I wouldn’t match that.”

But Chen helped navigate her through the transition to running in circles. At the CCS finals May 29 at San Jose City College, she took second place in the 3,200 with a time of 10:27.71, finishing just .61 seconds shy of Santa Cruz junior Cate Ratliff’s first-place time.

Lacy said she figured her time at the CCS finals would be the highlight of her season, as she’d been working toward that target date all season. Little did she know the best was yet to come by upping her personal record at the state finals.

“I think Jorge and I talk about basically what my workouts would be because I was so in tune with him … he always knew what’s best for me and I just followed him completely,” Lacy said. “So I thought that CCS finals would probably my best time. I was going in confident. I knew what I could do because Jorge told me that.”

However, her time at the CCS finals fell shy of her personal record. And so she set her sights on the state finals and finishing her high school career in style. Earlier in the season, she had recorded a Menlo record in the 3,200 of 10:25. She would end up bettering that time at state by over a second.

Lacy had to earn it though. Entering the final lap of the eight-lap race, she found herself in 10th place. And after the penultimate turn, she found herself in no better shape.

“My whole mindset that race was staying with a certain pack, making sure I didn’t lose them,” Lacy said. “So I didn’t think about it until the last 200, 250 meters and I realized I had something left that I could kick with. … I’d been practicing my finishes that whole week coming up to state. And I had kicked too early the week before and I didn’t want to kick too early.”

And so she nearly kicked too late, but managed to overtake three runners coming out of the last turn. Flying down the final straightaway, she passed one more to claim a place on the state podium.

“I knew it was my last race in high school,” Lacy said. “I definitely just wanted to leave nothing. So when I crossed the finish line, I was pretty content with the place I’d gotten.”

Lacy’s performance in cross country was even more impressive. She topped the CCS Division IV field Nov. 14, 2014 at Toro Park in Salinas with a time of 17:22. The top time transcended all divisions, as it was the best overall time of the meet from Divisions I through V. It was also the best time of the season at Toro Park and the eighth best time since the course was changed to a three-miler in 1971.

Her soccer season to follow was bittersweet, as it marked the end of Lacy’s career in team sports. In previous years, she’d transition to lacrosse. But due to the demands on preparing for a collegiate career, Lacy knew it was time to grow up and focus on the future. It was a tough choice for the girl who grew up on the soccer pitch. But it was the right one.

“My friends continued to play [lacrosse] … so when they talked about it — and we’re all on good terms and everything — I would miss it,” Lacy said. “But I think I definitely made the right decision to run track.”

And there will be plenty more running to come at Amherst College. However, there won’t be any in San Mateo County anytime soon quite like Lizzie Lacy.