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Rams' Bertling Makes Up Ground

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By LEE DIEKEMPER

Tribune correspondent

Published: March 18, 2009

WESLEY CHAPEL - Track coaches, if not all high school coaches, like to try to motivate their athletes with phrases like "never give up" and "work harder." While the phrases are well-meaning, they are so overused they begin to sound empty.

But Friday in the Wildcat Fast Times track meet at Wesley Chapel, Ridgewood's Karissa Bertling proved those words still have meaning.

Bertling, among other events, runs the anchor leg of the Rams' 4x400 relay team. Last Friday, when she grabbed the baton, it appeared to be a hopeless race. It seemed like she had to make up nearly the length of a football field.

"Eighty yards? It looked like 120 yards," Ridgewood coach Sue Vien said.

No matter the exact distance, it was a significant chunk of real estate. Too much for any reasonable person to expect to make up, barring something out of the ordinary.

Apparently, Bertling isn't an ordinary athlete. Not only did she make up the ground, she also got across the finish line first by a hair to give Ridgewood the victory. It was such a surprising win that Vien appeared stunned, holding her hands against her head and wandering aimlessly as if in a daze.

"I've never seen anything like that before," the veteran Ridgewood coach said.

But she seemed to have had a premonition. Just before the race, Vien noticed Wesley Chapel using an odd combination in their relay legs. Vien pulled Bertling aside and told her that Wesley Chapel's fastest runner was running the first leg, not the anchor.

"You can do it," Vien told Bertling.

When Bertling took the anchor, she was determined, despite having so much ground to make up. "I had to catch up," she said. "I had to help my team out."

Not only did she surprise nearly everyone who was watching, Bertling surprised herself by finishing her leg in 58 seconds.

"I was just trying to catch up," Bertling said. "I had to go all-out. It was the biggest difference I've ever made up."

DIALING BACK: Earon Hicks was named MVP for the boys as he won three events, all field events, at the Wildcat Fast Times meet. Hicks captured the high jump (5 feet, 10 inches), long jump (20-63/4) and triple jump (41-101/2). He did that despite having a sore ankle.

The injury is significant enough that Coach Brian Colding will be dialing back Hicks' workouts.

"It's just wear and tear," Colding said of the injury. "He does three jumps for us, and this is the last night for that. We will back off the jumps until the districts. We need to give him a rest.

"Right now, he is at a point where it's time to turn up the training a notch. He has become complacent with practices, but that's not to say he's not working hard. He is. We need to fine-tune some things in practice so he can make the push to the postseason."

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