Challenge Accepted, Challenge Met

It’s all about the challenge.
The tougher, the better. Never fear. Never back down. Never, ever quit.
 
That’s the way Lauren Lucy approached every day of her high school track and field career.
 
“Yes,” she said. “Absolutely. One hundred percent.”
 
It’s one thing to have that attitude. It’s quite another to put that attitude into practice. While wearing the Green and Gold, Lauren, a 2022 Collegiate graduate and multi-event competitor, did both…with energy, enthusiasm, and excellence.
 
A gymnast when she was younger and a volleyball and lacrosse player along the way, Lauren gravitated to track in the winter of her 8th grade year and found her athletic calling.
 
Her first events were the sprints, but as a freshman, she tried the pole vault at the urging of her friend (and fellow gymnast) Ashley D’Ambrosia and found the perfect vehicle to test her speed, athleticism, determination, and strength of will.
 
“Lauren started flying pretty quickly,” said John Vellenoweth, Collegiate’s vault coach since 2018. “The biggest thing was her lack of hesitation and fear. She fully committed to doing the technical progression without holding back.”
 
Lauren ended the 2019 indoor season with a personal best of 8-1. By the end of the spring, she’d set the school record (10-6.75), placed third in the League of Independent Schools and second in the VISAA championship meets, and finished sixth in the freshman division of the New Balance Outdoor Nationals.
 
She increased her personal best to 11-2 as a sophomore, 11-6 as a junior, and 11-10 in the VISAA meet, the final competition of her high school career.  From her sophomore year on, she won all the indoor and outdoor championship meets in which she vaulted (although Covid claimed her sophomore spring and junior winter seasons). A team captain for the winter and spring teams this past year, she’s also earned numerous Richmond Times-Dispatch All-Metro citations and, though the 2022 outdoor-season honorees have yet to be announced, she’s ranked third in Central Virginia, thus assuring her a spot.
 
Once she established herself as the crème de la crème in her event, was there pressure to win? Well, yes. And no.
 
“When I know people are watching,” she said, “there’s a certain amount of pressure on my shoulders, but that’s when I perform better. Pressure has always helped me, especially this year. Even last year, too, when Ashley (a 2021 Collegiate alumna who now vaults for Washington & Lee) and I were always neck and neck.
 
“This year, it’s kind of been me competing against myself because there aren’t many girls in the league that are reaching the same heights. Every time you go up, it’s a new challenge. There’s something new you need to change about your run or your jump. That’s what keeps me going and keeps me intrigued. It never gets boring.”
 
Vellenoweth, a Penn State alumnus and 18-6 vaulter in his competitive days, has been integral to her training and improvement.
 
“Coach V is one of the sweetest coaches,” Lauren said. “He’s really encouraging, and he’s extremely knowledgeable about pole vaulting and the poles we use. You know you can trust him when you go into these really high heights.”
 
As dominating as she’s been in the vault, perhaps her most dramatic and memorable career performance came in her final state meet as the anchor of the 4x100 relay, one of six events in which she competed May 21 at Sports Backers Stadium.
 
When she took the baton from D’yan Robinson, the Cougars were in fourth place, about six meters out of first, in a very strong field. Undaunted, she summoned every ounce of competitive spirit she could muster, walked down the leaders, and leaned into the finish to secure the victory by .01 seconds. The Cougars’ time (51.26) was their fastest of the year.
 
“I’m not a person who likes to lose,” she said. “I knew right there, right then, that if we wanted the state championship, I’d have to leave it all on the track. It’s actually kind of blurred in my brain now, but I just saw them in front of me and wanted to beat them.”
 
That day, when the Cougars placed second overall, Lauren also competed in the long jump (sixth), triple jump (second), 100 (fifth) and 200 (11th), contributed 27.5 team points, and earned Outstanding Field Event Performer honors.
 
“Lauren's commitment to the track program from day one has been contagious,” said Beth Kondorossy, head girls team coach since 2009. “Her energy and enthusiasm have impacted not only her teammates but her coaches as well. She’s worked hard over the years to improve team bonding, team pride, and overall love for track and field within the Collegiate community. We’ll miss her smile, upbeat personality, tremendous leadership, and passion to help others. She’s been a huge role model for many younger athletes who will strive to fill her shoes.”
 
In addition to her 11-10 in the vault, she finished her career with personal bests of 13.02 in the 100, 27.03 in the 200, 33-10.5 in the triple jump, and 16-11 in the long jump.
 
“I’m pretty sure that if you handed her a shot put or a discus and said, ‘Hey, go score some points,’ Lauren would try her best and be pretty pumped about it,” said Vellenoweth. “She’ll even sacrifice some of her individual performances to help the team. She’s very adamant about making sure she gets the time to progress in all her events and improve everywhere.
 
“If she’d wanted to jump even higher this year, she could have, but she worked on events where she could move up in places rather than showing up and winning with her talent. That shows how selfless and humble she is. Performances don’t get to her head. She’s just happy and on to the next race.”
 
It should be no surprise, then, that Lauren’s biggest track thrill wasn’t one of her many individual successes or accolades but the Cougars’ spring LIS and state titles in 2021.
 
“Definitely,” she said. “It was the team thing. One hundred percent.”
 
Next up for Lauren is the University of Miami (FL), whose women’s team won the 2022 Atlantic Coast Conference championship. There, she plans to major in communications and concentrate on the vault.
 
“In college, your focus narrows,” Vellenoweth said. “There aren’t so many extracurriculars. There’re more studies and athletics. With the potential Lauren has, it’ll be exciting to see how well she flourishes in that environment.”
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