SACO — There are a lot of runners in the girls SMAA cross country field, but they will all be chasing one special runner this season as Thornton Academy’s Charlotte Pierce could be the league’s best harrier.

Pierce uses her work ethic and determination to be the best, she said, saying that she uses her passion for the sports as her way of pushing herself through the tough elements of cross country running.

In Pierce’s first run this year, she broke the 10-minute mark on a 1.55-mile course at Thornton Academy, her home turf. She was the only girl to break that mark that day, and the entire SMAA field was there.

“I couldn’t do what I do without all of my supporters who give me confidence,” said Pierce.

During the off season, Pierce ran with her sisters and father to get the pacing down for the season ahead. It’s the family closeness that helps her improve her distance running and makes her believe in herself. She ran about 58 miles a week in preparation for this year, and when she was resting her legs from pounding the trails, she took spinning classes on Mondays and Wednesdays.

Pierce said she wants some records to fall this year, maybe even family records, even though she was bashful in admitting it. Pierce’s goal is to be on top this year, but she wants to continue to improve as well.

“I know where I want to be in my head, but I guess the overall goal is to just keep improving,” Pierce said.

“Charlotte has big goals and she has the work ethic to match. She certainly understands that there is no easy path to what she wants to accomplish,” said TA cross country coach John Raby.

In her sophomore and junior year, Pierce dealt with an iron deficiency that prevented her from performing at the highest level. As a runner, she has gradually improved over the years, but it’s her physique that has a significant amount of improvement.

“While Pierce’s times have continued to improve over the years, her real improvement has come in the way she looks at our meets. She has much more confidence in her ability than she did when we first started working with her,” said Raby.

Pierce gets her motivation from her coaches and the fans. She herself has influenced several teammates to perform at a high level. Just being on the Thornton team has powered her teammates to strive for more. With a great runner like Pierce, underclassmen have someone to look up to and strive to beat. They now know what being great is like; Pierce only leads by example.

“Having Charlotte on the team has certainly opened many of the other athletes’ eyes as to how far you can go in this sport,” said Raby.

Pierce would like to run for a Division 1 school in college, but she is open to any school that fits her wants and needs. She doesn’t just want any school that will challenge her athletically, but academically, too, she said.

“I do like being a competitor at the state level, but would really like to have to work for my spot on a team in college. As important as choosing a college based on running, I’m looking for a challenging academic environment as well.” said Pierce.

Pierce comes from a family of runners. Both of her sisters, Hannah and Katherine are on the record list for running the SMAA relay, a 1.55 mile course, in less than 10 minutes. Katherine has Hannah beat by 10 seconds with times of 9:24 and 9:34 respectively. Hannah is the only family member to run a course over three miles in less than 20 minutes.

“The sky is the limit for Charlotte and she certainly has the potential to meet her lofty goals. It will make for some very exciting races this season,” said Raby.