Eastwood earns seventh place at South Carroll XC Invite

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South Carroll Invitational
Sykesville, MD
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Eastwood earns seventh place at South Carroll XC Invite
It’s likely the sophomore will keep improving

By Kevin Spradlin
TriStateRunnur.com

WINFIELD, Md., Sept. 17 – Natalie Eastwood has improved by leaps and bounds in the past 12 months. On Friday, the Westminster sophomore put her improved talent on display in the South Carroll XC Invitational in Winfield. And Eastwood showed why it’s so believable that, with continued training, she’ll only continue to get better.

What did she do that was so amazing? It’s simple. She tried. She reached for the finish line. Watch any high school cross country race and see for yourself how many of the runners approach the finish line in a dead sprint, or something like it, but begin to pull up several yards before the finish line.

If Friday was any indication, Eastwood won’t be caught doing that.

On Friday, the blue-clad harrier was struggling to keep up with and trying to catch South Carroll sophomo0re Samantha Bingaman on her home course, which runs one part on the outskirts of the high school’s rural campus and one part around the perimeter of Mayeski Park. Both runners had rounded the last turn and were headed full-speed toward the 50-yard-line of Parker Field.

With only a few meters to go, Eastwood realized her legs weren’t going to move fast enough to catch Bingaman. But instead of leaning forward for an extra couple of inches, she struck her arm straight forward in hopes of getting the tip of her finger across the finish line before any part of Bingaman.

“It was the only thing I could think of,” Eastwood said. “I could not run any faster.”

The second-year varsity runner – and No. 1 for the Owls – is running much faster now than at this time a year ago. In 2009, Eastwood completed the 5,000-meter course at South Carroll in 23 minutes and 49.3 seconds. Her time was good for 63rd place.

This year, she finished in 21:11.93, as caught on tape by finish line guru Jim Bullock, Bobby Ward and five other expert stop-the-clock and keep-‘em-in-line officials coordinated by SC Coach Rob Pennington. She placed seventh overall.

Only the arm thing didn’t work. Bingaman finished 0.19 seconds ahead of Eastwood.

“It was my last resource,” Eastwood said.

Eastwood, a veteran on SC’s challenging but well-flowing course, said she was “pretty exhausted” by the experience.

She has every reason, however, to be satisfied with Friday’s overall time and place. Eastwood didn’t give up. She didn’t slow a few meters before the finish line to click the button on her watch or to watch the display clock as she crossed the line.

Instead, Eastwood truly earned seventh place. And no one can take that effort away.