Faithful and fast, Benzing chases another title

SOLON -- This time last year, Lauren Benzing was an unknown.

"I saw her those first few days of practice, and I thought, 'Wow, she looks pretty good,' " said Emy Williams, Benzing's cross country coach at Solon High School. "But you never really know until that first meet."

One meet -- that first meet -- changed everything.

Running against predominantly Class 4A competition, Benzing captured the individual title at the Cedar Rapids Prairie Invitational last August. She didn't lose a race all season, capping it with the 2A state championship.

"I realized right away how much fun cross country was going to be," said Benzing, now a junior. "As the season went on, I was able to find my pace and I built confidence."

Benzing played volleyball at Solon as a freshman, but after a successful track season as a ninth-grader, she decided to see how her running skills translated onto grass.

Extremely well, it turned out, even though she admitted she really didn't know what she was doing early in the season.

"It was all new to me," she said. "(The success) was a surprise. I had no idea what God had in store for me."

Benzing talks frequently about God -- her first gesture as she crossed the finish line at state was a point toward the sky.

And she talks to Him.

"I really try to connect my faith and my running," she said. "When I run, I ask for strength. I offer my running to God as a sacrifice."

To discuss Benzing without mentioning her faith is to paint an incomplete portrait of her.

"That's who Lauren is," Williams said. "She's so humble about herself. Her faith is a huge part of her. It's really in her heart, and her heart is so big."

Benzing was undefeated last year. By all accounts, she's better now.

"I think I'm a stronger runner now," she said. "I've learned what it means to train, to compete and to work toward goals."

The goals are the same this season, but the field of competition will be different come October. Solon is elevated to Class 3A this season, and Benzing will have to unseat Anna Holdiman of Waverly-Shell Rock to capture another title.

Now a junior, Holdiman won the 3A crown last year in 14:22, 11 seconds faster than Benzing's time.

Sophomore Madison Waymire of Dallas Center-Grimes, last year's 3A runner-up, also has Benzing's attention.

You think Solon athletics in the fall, and you automatically think football. After all, the Spartans have won four straight titles in the UNI-Dome.

But the cross country program is strong -- and deep -- as well. Williams has 40 girls and 35 boys on her roster.

"It says a lot about the kids in this school," Williams said. "They participate. This is a positive place to be."

The boys were third in 2A last year and return four runners. The girls were fourth and return six runners from their state team, including all of the top four.

"I think we have the potential to be state champions," Benzing said. "We have a lot of good girls back, and a lot of talented freshmen."

Running is something is which Benzing excels. But it doesn't consume her. She is an all-state trumpet player and is a member of the choir.

She talks about running collegiately. At the Division-III level.

"That's how I think it will end up," she said. "I really want to balance running and my academics."