Sports - Sports News

POSTED: Saturday, Jun. 20, 2009

PREP GIRLS' TRACK: Friday leaves lasting impression at Bellingham

Since she's been running at Bellingham High School, nearly every competitor and coach has talked about Becca Friday's kick late in a race. Doesn't matter if it's on a cross country course or a synthetic track surface, Friday has an extra gear as she nears the finish line that allows her to close in on and catch competitors.

Want to see what it looks like?

Go check out the video of Friday's run in the 1,600 of the Class 2A State Championships at flotrack.org. With approximately 300 meters to go, that's Friday in fifth place - about 15 yards behind the fourth-place runner and more than 20 behind the race leader.

But watch closely and you'll see her kick - as in kick up dust. In a full sprint, Friday catches and passes the four runners in front of her, and if that wasn't enough she ends up winning her first state title in the event by about 20 yards with a time of 5 minutes, 1.87 seconds. She ran the final 400 yards in 64 seconds - a time that would have just missed placing her 16th in the 2A state 400 preliminaries a day earlier. And that was after she had already run three laps in this race and two others earlier in the day when she successfully defended her state title in the 800 for a second time with her winning time of 2:12.46.

"She was behind in the mile, and she said she looked up and she realized she needed to do something about it," Bellingham coach Bill McClement said in a phone interview. "She simply assessed the situation, saw that there were four or five runners in front of her. She didn't just look at the next runner in front of her. That's where her fierce competitive desire comes from, and it's inherent in Becca's makeup. She'll compete with every ounce of strength that she has, and you definitely saw that there."

After winning the pair of state titles this year and claiming four individual state championships in her career, Friday was selected The Bellingham Herald's All-Whatcom County Girls' Track and Field Athlete of the Year. Blaine's Mike Grambo, who led the Borderites to the first girls' track and field title in school history and a program-best second-place finish on the boys' side, was selected the Girls' Track Coach of the Year.

"It feels really good," Friday said of her senior season. "It feels like I'm leaving here strong. I know there is a lot more hard work to be done, but I know that it can be done. I have some new, exciting stuff to look forward to."

That includes attending the University of Oregon on a track scholarship next year.

That statement alone, probably says more about Friday's talent for running than even the four state titles do.

"Oregon has some hallowed traditions with regard to track and field and the middle-distance events in particular," McClement said. "They don't allow just anybody to step onto that hallowed ground without some regard for it."

Friday has definitely earned the right, though.

Her three straight state titles in the 800 and the one win in the 1,600 are only part of the story.

She graduated with a 3.5 grade-point average with a number of advanced placement and honors classes in the humanities and science and was selected one of the top 10 seniors by the Bellingham High faculty for her academic and athletic accomplishments.

"Becca is the absolute model of a student-athlete in the highest sense of the term," McClement said. "She is a student-athlete that others should look to as a role model. She knows there is more than athletics in life."

She also spent hundreds of hours doing volunteer work during her high school career, according to her father Chris Friday - another glimpse into her strong character off the track.

"One of the things about Becca is she is respected and liked by teammates and classmates and competitors," McClement said. "She treats everybody with respect and treats everybody equally and still upholds her very high competitive standards."

It is that competitive desire that really makes Friday a special runner.

"I guess it comes from my parents," Friday said of her competitiveness. "My mom played soccer at Lewis and Clark, and my dad did shot put and discus. It's probably just being so stubborn and being around stubborn people. I'm coming from a stubborn family."

It takes stubbornness to turn out for conditioning workouts in the dead of winter and to stick around every day to be the last one in the weight room after those runs in the rain.

"She worked at everything she accomplished," McClement said. "But to combine that with her inherent ... desire to be the best - it's something that very few athletes have, and she is one of the very few."

Friday admits that while she hoped to for the double titles last month at state, the 1,600 win was "a bonus after winning the 800 for a third straight year." But the way she won it left a lasting mark for her legacy at Bellingham High.

It wasn't the only time she ran a competitor down - she made a similar charge at the Northwest Conference Cross Country Championships at Civic Stadium in October to finish second - but it was her last in a Red Raiders' uniform.

"When people see the way she races and the way she competes, it leaves and indelible impression," McClement said. "It's something you will never forget."

Reach David Rasbach at david.rasbach@bellinghamherald.com or 715-2271.