Cardinal Gibbons senior runner Sophie Ebihara wants to get past second-place streak

Sophie Ebihara almost laughed when she said it.

“I’m the three-time, 3A runner-up,” she said.

The Cardinal Gibbons senior has run in a state N.C. High School Athletic Association 3A championship meet every year since her freshman season. And with each, she came up slightly short. Last season, she fell by a minuscule two-tenths of a second.

It’s a new year for Ebihara, though.

Cardinal Gibbons is now competing in a higher classification, and Ebihara said she feels healthier than last season. She’s hoping the combination will be enough to push her to a first-place finish in Saturday’s 4A championship race at Ivey M. Redmon Park in Kernersville.

“We’re incredibly blessed to be able to move up and compete with the big public schools around here, finally,” Ebihara said. “I’m so excited. Hopefully that will be the push I need to finally get over that runner-up streak I’ve held.”

Following suit of many of the school’s other fall athletic programs, Gibbons cross country has already asserted itself in the 4A ranks. The girls blasted the competition in the PAC-6 meet on Oct. 16.

Ebihara, who will run for Florida next season, crossed the finish line alone (18:37) to win the conference’s individual championship as her teammates contributed to a perfect score for an overall win. This past weekend, she won the 4A Midwest Regional title, while her Crusaders took another team title to advance to the state meet.

“Physically, I think as far as my team, we hold each other accountable a lot,” Ebihara said. “Accountability with our 110 percent every day so that we can be a team that is a contender of the state. Mentally, I get nervous. I do. Everyone gets nervous. I think mentally, it’s about going out there and running to the best of your ability and running out there with confidence knowing you’re going to lay it all out for your team.”

Overcoming health issues

Last season was rough for Ebihara, despite it ending with a third consecutive runner-up award.

She said she struggled with her health, forcing her into lighter conditioning and even an alternative race plan for the championship meet.

“I was borderline anemic as far as my ferritin levels in my blood,” Ebihara said earlier this season. “I wasn’t able to train the way I wanted just because I was always lethargic and tired and didn’t feel well. So come state meet, I really wasn’t sure how I was going to do. Coming out runner-up, I was incredibly excited and grateful. I was just thankful and blessed that I was able to run as well as I did, despite all the odds.”

After cruising to this season’s team and individual titles, Ebihara said she’s never felt better.

The big race

Ebihara and the entire Gibbons team know what challenges lie ahead on the big stage of 4A competition, but coach Nick Mangum said they have to focus only on what they control.

And that’s how well Ebihara runs.

“We’ve talked about ... the depth of competition at the 4A level just a little bit,” Mangum said. “But really, what it comes down to at the state meet is making sure that you are on that day and that you basically execute the race plan. Yeah, we want to be aware of these other girls that are running really well, but really, it’s out of our control so we have to focus on (Ebihara’s) race and her race alone.”

She will indeed face solid competitors.

Last year’s 4A champion, Elly Henes of Greene Hope, qualified for the championship after her Falcons took runner-up to Leesville Road in the 4A Mideast meet.

The individual winner, Nevada Mareno, posted an impressive 16:47, breaking 16:50 for her second individual title of the season. The Pride junior won the Cap-8 championship with a personal record of 16:36.

Ebihara’s career best is 17:58.

“I’m really into visualization,” Ebihara said. “So, I visualize my races before they occur. I do some mental re-checking to make sure my mind’s in the right place before I go head into the race and make sure my nerves are under control. This is an incredibly difficult sport. You really have to love the sport to come out here and do what we do every day.”

This story was originally published November 6, 2015 at 6:13 PM with the headline "Cardinal Gibbons senior runner Sophie Ebihara wants to get past second-place streak."