The development of Chesterton junior Shelby Bullock can be told with numbers.
At last year’s sectional meet, Bullock finished ninth overall in 19 minutes, 58 seconds. This year, she won the sectional meet in 18:44.
“It’s a lot more fun this year for me,” Bullock said. “I know what I’m capable of.”
But that’s the short version of the story. How Bullock shaved over a minute off her time in just 12 months is more detailed, and it mostly involves a summer running camp.
Bullock debuted in cross country as a sophomore, coming to the sport after a strong track season in the spring of her freshman year.
“I didn’t really have any knowledge of cross country,” she said. “I just tried to do the best I could. I mostly struggled with my confidence. I didn’t know what I was capable of.”
Last summer, ahead of her junior season, Bullock was encouraged by her coach to attend a running camp at North Carolina State. And that’s when Bullock started to believe.
“I ran with a lot of good girls,” Bullock said. “And when I ran with them, I’d always be saying to myself that I could hang with them. During practice, I pushed myself more because I saw what I was capable of there.”
It was the exact result Chesterton coach Maggie Wolgamot was hoping for when she recommended the camp.
Wolgamot was a product of the camp herself, visiting it every summer while growing up in Tampa, Fla., before running at Purdue.
“Every girl who went to that camp came back different,” Wolgamot said. “(Bullock) saw that becoming an elite athlete was attainable.”
From that point on, Bullock attacked her summer workouts with a renewed vigor.
On every run, she’d set a target time. And then she’d beat it. Then, she’d lower the target time for her next run. And then she’d beat the target again. And then the next one. And then the one after that.
Driven by that improvement, Bullock made a strong impression at one of the state’s biggest meets, the New Prairie Invitational in mid-September. Bullock was fifth, clocking 18:36.
Then came Saturday’s sectional victory, the first of Bullock’s career and the first time she’d completely separated from a lead pack full of runners she admired as a sophomore.
“Those girls don’t realize how much I looked up to them,” she said. “I didn’t understand how they were so good.”
But Bullock wasn’t intimidated by the pace set by her opponents. Instead, they became her motivation.
“Her outlook wasn’t, ‘Wow, how’d they run that time?'” Wolgamot said. “It was, ‘Coach, show me how to run that time.’ That’s a big difference.”
Bullock hasn’t been alone with this determined mindset.
The improvement of classmate Kara Krol and the development of newcomers like freshmen Nalani Malackowski and Taylor Edwards give Chesterton hope for a deep postseason run after finishing third at the sectional meet.
“I’m really proud of our team,” Bullock said. “We’re all super motivated to keep dropping our times.”
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Dave Melton is a freelance reporter for the Post-Tribune.
Boys Cross Country Top 5
With last week’s rankings in parentheses
1. Valparaiso (1)
2. Lowell (2)
3. Morgan Township (3)
4. Crown Point (4)
5. Chesterton (5)
Runner of the Week: Lake Central took the team title at Saturday’s Gavit Sectional, led by senior Billy Duszynski’s first-place time of 16:47.
Girls Cross Country Top 5
With last week’s rankings in parentheses
1. Valparaiso (1)
2. Lowell (2)
3. LaPorte (4)
4. Chesterton (3)
5. Crown Point (5)
Runner of the Week: Munster senior Kaylee Galvan won the Gavit Sectional with a first-place time of 20:06, leading the Mustangs to the team title.