SOPHOMORE RUNNING STRONG GOING INTO DISTRICT MEET

As a freshman, Abi Schlup was recruited to run cross country for the Lady Bearcats for the district meet. She finished second.

“They didn’t have enough for a team so they pulled me and another freshman (Makinley Ensey) up,” Schlup says.

Now a sophomore she is helping with the recruiting.

“We’ve had a few freshmen start running with us,” Schlup said.

Along with Cora Nichols and Zoie Jones, Schlup has been one of three Lady Bearcats to make most meets this season, but it takes five running times to have a team score.

That has not stopped her from making herself known as she has picked up medals in four meets, including one in Acorn that drew runners from three states.

Most recently, it was a 24:09.4 in Waldron, which is her personal best time.

The medals are a draw, she admits with tomorrow’s district meet set for tomorrow and being hosted here.

The course for tomorrow’s run will start in front of the junior high and includes a trek around the junior and senior high campuses but will also cross Eighth Street and proceed into the park connecting Marcelle Phillips and Veterans parks before returning to campus for the finish lines.

While he obviously cannot help her Lady Bearcat team Schlup has helped convince her brother Parker to take up running in the junior boys division.

“At the beginning of the year Coach Denton was talking to me at the open house and my brother was with me and he said, ‘well are you going to run too.’ He hasn’t been much of an athletic person but he likes it,” said Schlup.

She may not be done recruiting the home.

“There’s me, Parker, and my younger sister, she’s in the sixth grade. I’ll probably try to get her to run too,” said Schlup.

Prior to the district cross country run, which is five kilometers, or about 3.1 miles, Schlup was an outdoor track mid-distance and distance specialist running the 800-meters, 4x400-meter relay, and the 1600-meters.

As a 4x800-meter runner she teamed with Vanessa O’Neal, Christina O’Neal, and Tiffany O’Neal to win the state indoor meet, for which she earned a ring rather than a medal.

The quartet was sixth in the state outdoor meet, where she was also seventh in the 1600 meters in the state meet.

None of the triplets will join her on the cross country paths.

“I’ve been trying to get at least one of them to run with me, but they’re not budging,” said Schlup.

In addition to the running sports, Schlup is also a Cheer Cat as a flyer, meaning she can be found being launched into the air.

An AB student, she is enrolled in biology, fashion and interior design, Spanish I, honors English, American history, and algebra II.

After tomorrow’s district meet, and the state meet at Oaklawn Park in Hot Springs, Schlup will await the indoor meet and outdoor season with practice on her own or with family during the colder months.

“I’ll go out once in a while. My dad will try to get me and Parker to because I guess he wants to do it more,” said Schlup.