CROSS-COUNTRY

Leonard in final stretch of career at Appalachian State

Former Laney athlete achieved personal best time with Mountaineers

Mike Foster StarNews Staff

Judging by the inflection in her voice, you'd never guess someone as forward-thinking as Kerry Leonard has fears.

Turns out, heights is a big one.

"I was going on a hike with some friends and there's a clif that you actually have to take a ladder up to," Leonard said. "I actually had to stop. I couldn't do it."

The former Laney cross country athlete can laugh that one off. She insists her only other fear is in the past -- ironically, it had everything to do with where she is now.

"I used to run scared," said Leonard, now running at Appalachian State. "I'm not sure why. It's kind of hard to explain. I started running at the beginning of high school, so at first I didn't really know how. I'd get out in front in races and then my biggest fear was getting caught. I actually ran really hard on myself."

Leonard blossomed anyway, becoming the StarNews' Track and Field Athlete of the Year as a senior in 2014 after leading the way in the 800, 1,600 and 3,200 races. She turned from someone who ran for fun to a top-flight distance runner, yet still had doubts about advancing her career past high school.

"I was set on going to N.C. State just for academics because, but coach (Sam) Bobbitt kept bugging me to run in college," Leonard said. "He knows so many coaches, so I ended up with a lot of in-state options."

Afraid of ladders in high places, maybe, but Leonard wasn't backing down from the idea of taking a leap of faith. She could have gone to UNCW like one of her brothers, or N.C. State like the other, but instead chose to create her "own path" and head to the hills.

Running on a tougher course than most of her conference counterparts, Leonard is now a senior on the Appalachian State cross country and track teams. She has a Sun Belt championship from last season, as well as a personal record of 18:21.32 that she locked down in a race on the Mountaineers' home course earlier this season.

"It's funny how, actually, I had not PR'd since high school," Leonard said. "For that distance, it was a personal best. It kind of just happened. I wasn't going into that race expecting it."

Leonard said her change in attitude on the course helped her achieve the feat.

"Instead of just taking off, I've learned to run with the pack," Leonard said. "It's much less stressful. I definitely consider myself a meantal runner. I'm more cognitive of what I'm doing out there."

In the mountains of Boone, Leonard gets every other weekend off and spends her time in gradual hikes and ventures onto ski slopes when it's colder. It's a different life than what she grew up used to, but she prefers it that way.

"I actually love the cold," Leonard said. "I prefer running in a hoodie, in the cold than the smoldering heat and flat land."

Still, she plans on returning home for an internship if she can after graduating in May. She hopes to have a career in nutrition.

"I really have focused in on how nutrition affects my own body, and now I want to move into helping athletes with nutrition and achieving their own goals," Leonard said.