SACO — When one thinks of the state’s top distance runners, they think of Kennebunk’s Abbey Leonardi and Cheverus’s Fiona Hendry. They should as they are two of Maine’s best runners.

One, however, should also think of Thornton Academy’s Charlotte Pierce.

Pierce, a 17-year-old junior, is blossoming into a star for the Golden Trojans and it’s not going unnoticed.

“She is an incredible runner,” Thornton Academy coach Lisa Huntress said. “She works really hard and you don’t really think of her as being a top runner in the state, but she really is.”

Pierce has lowered her best mile time prior to this year was 5:20. During a preseason meet last week, she ran a mile in 5:08, a personal record. She also set personal records in the 800 and 400-meter runs.

“I wasn’t actually supposed to do the mile that day,” Pierce said. “I wasn’t over thinking it and I realized that’s how I need to run. I can’t analyze it. I have to just do it.”

That’s easier said than done when competing against three-time state champion Leonardi and the talented Hendry, who beat Leonardi for the SMAA cross country title in 2009.

For Pierce, however, running is not about winning.

“Of course I would love to win,” she said. “My goal is to focus on decreasing my times and just getting better. Running is a very individual sport.”

Pierce said she is also pushing herself this year because she has set a goal of running in college. College coaches routinely use a runner’s junior year to calculate their collegiate value.

“I can’t really think about that, but it’s on my mind,” Pierce said. “I want to get better each race so I can try to make a good impression.”

Pierce admittedly didn’t improve much between her freshman and sophomore years, mostly running the same times. Huntress, however, said she saw a different approach in Pierce’s practicing beginning with indoor track in January.

“She is quiet, but she began training harder,” Huntress said. “You could tell that her focus had changed and become more determined.”

Pierce started the regular season well on Tuesday as she won the two-mile, mile and 800-meter race in a meet at Thornton Academy against Westbrook, Deering and Marshwood.

She has officially become a frontrunner in meets such as Tuesday’s, a role she said she relishes and accepts as the season continues.

“I have to get used to it,” she said. “As I get older, though, I get more confident and that definitely helps as I now have a faster racing mindset. Now I go into a meet and know I have to set the pace and I know that I have the opportunity to set a personal record. That makes it exciting.”