Walsh off and running

Lindsay Walsh grew up playing soccer. She started when she was four or five years old and had every intention of continuing the game she loved at the high school level.But something happened the summer between the eighth grade and her freshman year in high school. Her mother, who ran cross country and track in high school and in college, suggested she give running a try.”I gave her a little nudge,” Kerin Walsh admits.The younger Walsh wasn’t immediately convinced, but she decided to give it a try.”I was really adamant about playing soccer,” she said, “although I knew my chances of making varsity as a freshman weren’t that good.”The first few practices weren’t easy.”I wasn’t very happy the first couple of practices, but then I started doing better, and as I got better, I liked it more and more,” Walsh said.She was hooked. Not only did she opt for cross country over soccer in the fall, but she ran during the winter as well. When spring came, she was faced with another dilemma. She had also grown up playing softball and was a member of the 2006 Swampscott Little League All-Star team that won the state title and went on to play in the Eastern Regionals in Albany, N.Y.Track won out ? and given her success over the years, the decision is looking like a good one.Walsh has been a dominating force in all three seasons at the local level since her freshman year, but this year, she kicked it up a couple of notches. As a junior, she qualified for the nationals in the emerging elite 2-mile. Last weekend, she was in Greensboro, N.C., testing herself against the best high school runners in the country in the Nike Outdoor Nationals. She finished seventh with a time of 11:18.Although the quality of the competition was somewhat daunting, Walsh said it was the weather that she found most intimidating.”It was something like 95 degrees out when we ran,” she said. “We didn’t have much time to adjust to the climate.”Walsh said it was an honor to compete in the nationals, and she thinks the experience will help her as she heads into her senior year. She said the emerging elite 2-mile is like an unseeded 2-mile. The qualifying time is a little slower than the regular 2-mile, although it’s still very competitive. She said her goal as a senior will be to qualify for the regular 2-mile, which she thinks is around 10:48.One person who has faith that she’ll get there is her spring track coach, Joe Tenney, who is also the head boys indoor coach and Dom Finelli’s assistant cross country coach in the fall.”I think she can definitely get back here (the nationals) next year,” Tenney said. “She definitely has all the tools and the determination. I think she can be a 10:30-ish 2-miler by next year.”Walsh was undefeated in each event she ran until she reached the all-state meet.”She has speed and she has a very good kick,” Tenney said, adding that Walsh has run a variety of different events, including the 200, the 400, the 800, and the mile. She was also on the 4×800-meter relay team that went to the all-states this year.”She’s very versatile,” Tenney said. “She’ll run whatever she’s asked to run. She’s very strong.Walsh said she hopes to run in college, and she and her parents, Kerin and Mike Walsh, have started looking into colleges. Walsh has a younger sister, Emma, who’ll be joining her at the high school in the fall.