Eagle Staff Writer
Sarah Balfour won 16 state championships in high school, but her 21st-place finish at last year's Big 12 cross country meet produced a shine unlike that from any of her gold medals.
Balfour, who ran that race with an injured knee, will complete a circle of sorts when she runs with the Texas A&M women in the 2007 conference meet in Lubbock on Friday. The Aggie men and women will compete at Texas Tech's Rawls Golf Course.
Facing a deep, talented field that includes defending NCAA champion Sally Kipyego of Tech, Balfour is expected to contend for a spot in the Top 20. At least she will take on the competition with a pain-free knee.
After qualifying for the NCAA meet as a freshman, Balfour was on course for a strong sophomore season last fall. She veered off that course when her knee began to hurt not long before the Big 12 championships.
"The day before the race, I couldn't run for 3 minutes without being in tears," Balfour said. "It was very, very difficult having the team run the course and I'm straggling behind in immense pain. It was horrible.
"I was going to run no matter what. It was just finding the right mindset. Putting on my spikes, doing the strides out and back and waiting for the gun to go off, it took a lot to keep myself composed. I was extremely nervous, but also disappointed at the same time."
Balfour said she was satisfied at the finish, because she proved what her body could endure and overcome. It was an example of the toughness inside the wisp of a young woman from Casper, Wyo.
"The way she pulled it all together for the team and ran hard was really impressive," A&M coach Dan Waters said. "It just goes back to what we saw when we were recruiting her, that she seemed to find a way to get to the finish line first. She has that competitiveness to push on and that belief in herself, all the things that come together to make a pretty tough little athlete, a pretty tough little person."
Blame Balfour's toughness at least in part on the girls she beat to win the first of her four state cross country championships in high school.
"Passing the [last] girl with a mile to go, there was something internal, knowing that I was mentally and emotionally stronger than her," Balfour said. "I can keep my head on my shoulders when it comes to that time.
"It's pretty much from the support of my family. If I feel like I'm having to grit my teeth in a race, usually I think about what my family, friends and coaches have done to get me this far and what I've done. It's an internal battle that I always win."
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NOTES -- The men's 8,000-meter race will start at 10 a.m., with junior David Hebert expected to be A&M's top finisher. The women's 6,000-meter race will begin at 11 a.m. The top 15 individuals in each race will make all-conference. ... A&M's men have finished seventh in the last two conference meets. The Aggie women were sixth last year after being seventh in 2005. ... A&M will be without two of its fastest women, with all-Big 12 runner Merideth Snow and 2006 Southeastern Conference champion Brooke Upshaw (transfer from Arkansas) both redshirting this year.
• Larry Bowen's e-mail address is larry.bowen@theeagle.com.
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