Girls cross country: Carpenter continues cutting her times at Jacobs

Jacobs senior Kelly Carpenter loves to run, the type of enthusiasm for a sport that typically comes from a family background who instilled that passion at an early age.

So is it parents, siblings, extended ...who devolved that in Carpenter?

"I'm on my own," Carpenter laughed.

Carpenter might not have anyone in her family joining her for those 7 a.m. runs she likes to go in three times a week, but she's certainly developed into an excellent runner. She helped the Jacobs 3,200 relay qualify for state in the 3,200 last spring (they finished 13th), and she's got high hopes for the upcoming cross country season.

"My goal to keep improving and stay healthy," Carpenter said. "I want to run in college so I'm getting ready for that. I'm super excited because the girls on the team are doing well, everyone's training is going great. It will be a fun season both with the team and my individual goals. This year we definitely have a chance to be competitive with the other teams in our conference. I'm excited to see what we can do and the bigger invites opening up."

Jacobs finished fifth in the 2020 FVC meet and third in the Rockford regional and only graduated one of its top seven.

Carpenter qualified for the state meet and finished 49th in the unofficial state meet. She was third in conference last year, and teammate Elisabeth Kania was 11th.

"Kelly has had a dramatic drop in times this summer and will look to improve," Jacobs coach Kevin Christian said. "We've seen a big improvement out of the rest of the team so far this summer."

Carpenter said she's been running about 45 miles a week. She began running in middle school as a way to cross-train for Irish dance, which she did for 11 years before recently stopping.

She began to take running more seriously in high school and has been improving her times ever since.

"I love being able to push myself and put everything into workouts because you feel so accomplished when you finish a hard workout or race," Carpenter said. "And it's cool to do that with my teammates."

Carpenter is looking at UIC and Bradley for college where she plans to continue running both cross country and track while majoring in physical therapy.

She said she misses dance a little but is glad to have found a sport she enjoys so much - even with the early start to her days.

"I feel when I get a good (morning) workout then the rest of my day is so much better," said Carpenter, who likes to listen to "upbeat music" on those runs. "I get tired but push through it. I miss dance a little bit but running is more for me. I'm happy to just be focusing on that now."