As a freshman, Merrillville senior Alysa Coleman made a quick impression on her coaches.
The first time head coach Kelly Kratz saw Coleman on the track, she turned to assistant coach Mike Hoffman and said, “That kid can run.”
“She can run any race, really,” Kratz said of Coleman. “She’d be successful in any of them.”
Coleman’s natural ability has been reinforced with the technical aspects of the sport by Merrillville’s coaching staff, setting her up for a big season as one of the area’s top sprinters.
Learning the techniques of running was something new for Coleman, who said she largely relied on natural talent in her first few years of high school. By the end of her junior season, she was a state qualifier in the 200 and 400 meters and the 1,600 relay.
“I wasn’t really working on how to run,” Coleman said. “It was like, just go run and you’ll get better. Mapping out the 400 really helped me a lot. Breaking down each 100 into a different thing that I needed to adjust my body to helped me out a lot.”
Assistant coach Branden Wesby has been part of the efforts for Coleman to focus on the 400 as multiple sections, not just one long race.
“When she first started running the 400, she was just all guts,” Wesby said. “We made it muscle memory for her to be at the first 200 between 26 and 27 seconds. And coach Kratz built all her workouts around targeting those times to put her on an elite level.”
Coleman said she’s also benefited from the support of her biggest fan: her mother, Brandy.
“Track is all she talks about,” Coleman said, laughing. “She hypes me up a lot. She’s come to every meet I’ve had since I was little. She’s a track mom.”
She’ll have to travel south for meets next season, after Alysa made a verbal commitment Monday to continue her track career at Morehead State. That part of Coleman’s future is secure, but the next few months remain in question.
With the graduation of West Side’s Antonise Christian, who dominated Region sprint events the last four years, there’s plenty of podium space available for runners like Coleman.
And from a statewide perspective, the graduation of Pike’s Lynna Irby, who completed an unprecedented four-year state meet sweep of the 100, 200 and 400, leaves a slew of state medals to be won.
“That goes through my mind 24/7,” Coleman said. “I really want to win everything. I don’t know how likely it is, but I want to do it. That’s my main goal.”
Dave Melton is a freelance reporter for the Post-Tribune.