Comment: Mustangs' success impressive, expected

Every Sunday, I check my email to see how our East County teams fared over the weekend.

And every week, I continually find myself in awe whenever I open an email regarding the Lakewood Ranch girls cross country team.

After watching these girls race for the past three years and seeing them capture back-to-back state runner-up finishes, I’ve come to know what to expect.

I expect the girls to win the meet or at the very least finish in the top three, and I expect junior Olivia Ortiz to pace the Lady Mustangs.

So needless to say, I wasn’t the least bit shocked when I opened my email and saw Lakewood had finished second at the Fort Myers Optimist Invitational Sept. 17 — or that Ortiz had won another invitational.

But the fact that six of Lakewood’s eight runners finished in the top 20 — now that caught my attention. And yet at the same time, it’s almost to be expected.

Ever since I began covering these girls three years ago, they’ve continued to impress me not only with their speed and endurance but also their desire to compete and off-the-track camaraderie.

There’s not a day that goes by that the girls aren’t training. Even when it’s consistently 90-plus degrees outside, they’re hitting the pavement. They train together, and, most importantly, they train when others aren’t looking.

While most of their classmates were hitting the beach this summer, the girls were running. And I’m not talking about a casual jog around the neighborhood. I’m talking mile after mile — and more than 500 for Ortiz.

Ortiz isn’t the only one who has piled on the miles. They all have. Senior Devin McDermott ran 200 miles before the start of her freshman year and has added an additional 50 miles, at the very least, every year since.

The season has just begun, but with all five runners back from last year’s team, the Lady Mustangs appear poised to capture the Class 3A state title that has eluded them each of the past two seasons. It’s only a matter of time before an email with State Champions in the subject line appears in my inbox.