Lady Mustangs' Devin McDermott anchors in state title

LAKEWOOD RANCH — Devin McDermott didn’t have time to be nervous.

The Lakewood Ranch senior knew exactly what she had to do. In the back of her mind, it had always been something she wanted to do. She just never thought it would be an option.

But when the opportunity arose just hours before she and her teammates were scheduled to walk out onto the track at the University of North Florida for the Class 3A state meet May 4, the pressure began to mount, and McDermott was overcome with a wave of emotion.

After agreeing to anchor the Lady Mustangs 4x800 meter-relay for the first time since her freshman year, McDermott did her best to push aside the doubt that had slowly begun to set in.

She went back to tying matching green ribbons in her teammates hair.

“I just tried to stay focused,” McDermott said. “I had done this before. I used to anchor my freshman year.”
A few hours later, McDermott walked onto the track for her final state meet. And after three years of hard work, sweat and tears, McDermott and her teammates weren’t about to settle for anything less than their best.

“I was little nervous — OK a lot nervous,” McDermott said. “We had plenty of time to get warmed up, and we were pretty focused. You can always tell it’s a state meet when our warm-ups are completely silent.

“You have a lot of thoughts in your head, and it came (more quickly) than I could’ve even imagined,” McDermott said.

As the gun sounded, McDermott watched Natalie Novak, Olivia Ortiz and Kristin Zarrella put the Lady Mustangs in position to finish in the top three.

McDermott stood at the finish line anxiously awaiting the baton; and as she began to run the final 800 of her high school career, McDermott focused on the one thing she had to do — stay with the girl in front of her.

With 200 meters to go, McDermott passed the Estero runner. She kicked it into high gear and refused to look back for the final 150 meters.

It wasn’t until she was crossing the finish line with a huge smile across her face and her finger pointed toward the sky that McDermott finally allowed herself to relax and revel in the moment.

The Lady Mustangs crossed the finish line in 9:14.15, breaking their school record by six seconds and beating state runner-up Estero by four seconds. McDermott also ran a personal best 2:15.

“That was the fastest 800 I’ve ever run,” McDermott said. “I was so pumped up. I knew what I had to do, and I just focused on that one thing. At the 150, I just started running for my life, and I didn’t look back.”

As her teammates rushed over to congratulate her, the reality that the Lady Mustangs had achieved their ultimate goal of winning a state title finally set in.

“I’m not normally one to cry over those things, but it was a flood of relief,” McDermott said. “For the past three years, the core five of us have been together, and it’s always been one thing after another. This is something we’ve been aiming for, and it was an amazing feeling. At first I was nervous, but I’m definitely glad I had that feeling. It was the ultimate experience.

“Over the past three years, we’ve watched each other grow and get better,” McDermott said. “We’ve put in the time and (mental) effort piece by piece to make this one perfect moment.”

Following their emotional high, the girls prepared to take the track in the remainder of their respective events. Ortiz finished second in the mile before suffering a broken femur in the two-mile, and McDermott finished seventh in the two-mile. Zarrella finished 13th in the 800 and the 4x400 relay of Zarrella, Mariah Higgins, Novak and Ashley Platt finished 12th.

Now with her final high school practice and state meet behind, McDermott will turn her attention to the next phase of her career — running for the University of Florida.

Initially, McDermott thought she’d attend college out of state, but at the beginning of the year, she set time goals for herself. And after achieving those goals, more options began to open. At that point, McDermott decided to run for the Gators, and she couldn’t be happier with her decision.

“What I didn’t expect the most is where I’ve ended up,” McDermott said. “I was at the top my freshman year, and then they all came in and wiped me out. I learned I’m not the best, and I have to work from that.

“I’m thankful they came in and pushed me,” McDermott said. “I want them to realize things don’t always end up the way you want them to, but no matter what it is you have to keep doing what you’re doing, have each others backs, move one, learn, grow and get better.”

Contact Jen Blanco at [email protected].