As Kris Wright coached the boys’ junior varsity soccer team at Leavitt High School in Turner, he kept seeing a familiar runner circling the school grounds. It was Allison Fereshetian, whom Wright would be coaching during outdoor track season. Seeing Fereshetian as a long-distance runner came as a surprise to Wright.
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“As a sprinter, you avoid distance events,” Wright said. “But she was out there working hard at the distance events. It let me know what kind of work ethic she had.”
Fereshetian’s endurance ultimately served her well in training for the sprinting events. Wright believed that her base conditioning, honed through endurance workouts in cross country and Nordic skiing, allowed her to push herself both in practice and in meets.
Fereshetian, the Maine Sunday Telegram girls’ outdoor track and field MVP, set a Class B record of 14.72 seconds in the 100-meter hurdles, won the 200 in 25.75 and finished second in the 300 hurdles in 45.79.
She provided all of Leavitt’s points, but Fereshetian looks beyond that. She hopes what she accomplished will set the foundation for the future of the Leavitt track program.
“I feel like we’re starting a good program and building a foundation for the future,” Fereshetian said. “There were people at the meet who didn’t place, but they supported me. It wasn’t all about me, even though the points were. My team was there and that’s what I was doing it for.”
Fereshetian qualified in the high jump, long jump, 100 hurdles, 300 hurdles, 100 and 200, but was allowed to participate in just four under Maine Principals’ Association guidelines. She scored in three events but opted to run a leg of the 1,600 relay, which did not place.
“She gave up an individual event to run in a relay that didn’t place, and that’s what we’re trying to impress,” Wright said. “Track and field is a team sport, but not in the same way as other team sports.”
In winning the 100 hurdles, Fereshetian reached a goal she set in middle school, but setting goals and scoring at big meets were constants for her.
When she joined the track program her freshman year, she finished second in the 200 and third in the 100 at the Class B meet. A year later, she placed in three events at the state meet and finished fourth in the 300 hurdles at the New England championships. Last year, she placed in four events at the state meet and finished fourth in the 100 hurdles at the New Englands.
“Each year, my times got better and my places got better,” said Fereshetian, who will run track at the University of Maine.
This year, Fereshetian progressed to the 300 hurdles and incorporated plyometric work and weights into her training, at Wright’s insistence.
“He knew what he was doing for workouts and I did a lot of hard workouts every week,” Fereshetian said. “He got me to a point where I was a lot stronger, especially at the last 30 meters of a race.”
Wright believes Fereshetian’s humility, as well as her work ethic, have allowed her to appreciate what she is able to accomplish.
“When it comes to who she is as a person and as a competitor, she wants to beat you,” Wright said. “She wants to win, but she wants you to challenge her and be better. That’s why she works so hard, and she wants to do the same for you.”
Staff Writer Rachel Lenzi can be reached at 791-6415 or at:
rlenzi@pressherald.com
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