In her second year on the Varsity Cross Country team, this week’s Athlete of the Week, sophomore captain Carlie Meyerholz, has continued to progress in her running throughout her two-year stint and is quickly becoming one of the Dolphin’s top runners. Relying on a supremely positive attitude and a desire to be better than the previous day, Meyerholz has recorded a top-25 finish in each race to this point in the season.

“Carlie is a consummate leader with her actions on the team, and her dedication to improving herself,” Head Coach Dashiell Quasebarth said of Carlie Meyerholz.  “Her warm-up and running form drills are perfect, which sets the tone that we should aim for perfection in each and every activity we do.” That work ethic is clearly paying off with a top 3 finish at NA last week, setting a PR of 22:14 in the process.

Her work ethic appears to be paying dividends as Meyerholz captured the best finish of her Dolphin career last week, finishing the Norfolk Academy Invitational in 3rd place. Along the way, Meyerholz set a PR with a time of 22:14 in the same race. With another top-Dolphin runner sidelined with an injury, Carlie has picked up the pace and stepped up to race as the Dolphins number one runner.

“One of the best parts of watching Carlie race is seeing how she gets stronger as the race continues,” Coach Quasebarth continued of Meyerholz.  “As many of her teammates and opponents are learning to race and trying to control their adrenaline at the start of a race, Carlie eases into the race with a strong but smart start and pulls in the competition as the race continues.”

To this point in the season, Carlie has yet to miss out on the top-25 and has raced as the Dolphins’ number one runner in all but one race this season. Carlie kicked off the season with 25th place in a two-mile event before leaping 19 spots in her next race to capture 6th place in the Catholic High School Meet. Meyerholz followed a superb outing with an 11th place finish in the Greenbrier Christian Meet. The sophomore captain is poised to meet all of her pre-season goals as she continues to strengthen her abilities each day.

“Carlie has knocked her season marks from last year out of the ballpark, and we still have six weeks left in the season,” Coach Quasebarth added. “Now that Carlie has broken the 23:00 minute barrier, her goals are to chase 21:00  minutes by the end of the season.”

What truly sets Meyerholz apart is not her consistent approach to the sport or even the incredible leaps she has made throughout the last two years. It is as Coach Q says, “She is the “glue girl” in the locker room, in practice, and competition, holding the team together at all times. She greets each of her teammates with a smile and makes sure everyone from 7th grade to 12th grade feel welcome and accepted on the team.”

Carlie will face a daunting weekend as the Dolphins travel to Cary, North Carolina, for the Great American Cross Country Festival featuring several top runners from North Carolina and Virginia. Known as the biggest race of the year, Meyerholz and the Dolphins will be tested on Saturday afternoon as Meyerholz looks to continue her stellar 2019 Cross Country season.