As a sophomore at Magnificat High School in Rocky River, Ohio, Stephanie Thomas watched from the side as her school's 4x800-meter relay team became national champ in the event. Thomas was primarily a 400-meter runner, and was only considered an alternate for the 800, having never really competed in the event.
Her high school coach, however, told her that at some point in her running career, Thomas would be an 800 runner. Coming into Duke, Thomas figured she would try running for the track and field team after having run for a strong high school program, but was not sure she would stick with it. Fortunately for her coaches and teammates, Thomas stayed with running and filled her high school coach's prophecy, becoming one of the Blue Devils' top 800-meter runners as a sophomore.
"Track is definitely a bigger part of my life than I had planned it to be, but I wouldn't have it any other way," Thomas said.
In less than two years of competition, Thomas has compiled a long list of records and honors. As a freshman, she continued running the event she was most familiar with, the 400 meters, and set new freshman records in the indoor 400- and 500-meter events. Heading into the outdoor season, however, assistant coach Scott Yakola saw the promise Thomas held as an 800 runner.
"I saw that she had the speed, which you need to be a good 800 runner, as well as the strength," Yakola said.
She began using her 400 races as training for the 800, and in her first open 800-meter race ever, Thomas won the event at the Wake Forest Easter Classic in 2:18.64. Just one week later, Thomas ran a blistering 2:15.77 in front of a home crowd at the Duke Invitational to set a new freshman record in the event.
Since then, Thomas has not looked back.
"The telltale sign that Stephanie was going to be a really good 800 runner came in one of our last meets of the season," Yakola said. "She rabbited [junior Kim Voyticky] in the 800, running the first 600 meters to help pace Kim and the rest of the field. When she stepped off the track after 600 meters, she looked comfortable after running a 1:32. She said, 'That was fun,' and looked fine."
This year alone, Thomas has been a part of five school records. During the indoor season, she set a new mark in the 400 with her time of 58.10 to better her own record in the event, and was a part of the school-record 4x400-meter relay team in 3:53.71. In the first three meets of the outdoor season, Thomas has already tied the outdoor record in the 400, running a 56.94; helped set a new record in the 4x400 in 3:52.94; and run a 56.7-second 400-meter leg on the sprint medley relay at the Raleigh Relays as her team set a new record of 4:04 in the event.
Thomas has not yet run an open 800-meter race in the outdoor season, instead using her experience running in the relays as a part of her training cycle for running the 800 later in the season. But if her indoor experience in the event is any indication, Thomas should have no worries. At the Atlantic Coast Conference Indoor meet, Thomas went in with the goal of just qualifying for the finals of the 800, and ended up placing fourth in the event with a time of 2:14.15. The following weekend, Thomas bettered her own time by running a 2:13 in a meet at Florida State.
"Stephanie has good natural racing instincts, such as when to go, turn it up, when things happen and how to react-those are things you can't teach," Yakola said.
As Thomas is settling into her role as an 800 runner, there are still things that she realizes she must work on to be a better runner.
"I am definitely still learning the 800-experience can only come from running it," Thomas said. "I am continuing to learn how to be comfortable in the race and know what I'm doing."
Yet Thomas needs not only to feel comfortable in the event, but also to have the confidence in herself to believe she can run as fast as the coaches think she can. Thomas admitted that Yakola always believes that she can run faster than she herself does.
"She has yet to realize how good she can be," Yakola said. "We are working on making her believe she can run certain times."
Thomas and Yakola both credit Thomas' fellow Blue Devils, from both last year and this year, with helping her to become a better runner. But Thomas' own work ethic has also played a major part in her success so far.
"I like to compete, but I also keep it fun," Thomas said. "I get to the line and don't think about times-I just race. I am happy if I run my best and feel like I have to be scraped from the track at the end."
Yakola had a hard time pinpointing exactly what it is that makes him have nothing less than complete confidence in what Thomas can achieve.
"She has such a great work ethic," Yakola said, "but when you watch her, there's something special.... Something about Stephanie lets you know that she has that desire and will be a great athlete."
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