First year a breeze for Mulloy

Updated: May 16, 2011 9:59PM

It’s been sort of a whirlwind first year of high school for Leanna Mulloy.

In fact, you could say the Kankakee Valley sprinter made the difficult adjustment of moving from middle school to high school student-athlete with great aplomb.

Mulloy has not only breezed through her freshman year in the classroom with an eye-opening 4.20 grade-point average — but blown past nearly all competitors who’ve competed against her on the track as well.

While Mulloy has indeed piled up an impressive list of accomplishments in her prep career already — both on and off the track — she’s determined to add a few more feats to her resume at the Kankakee Valley Sectional today (4:45 p.m.).

“I’m really excited,” said Mulloy, the top seed in both the 100 and 200-meter dashes, who also runs legs on the Kougars’ 400 and 1,600 relay teams, which are also seeded first.

Mulloy is undefeated in the 100 this spring, and has been beaten by only two runners in the 200 — Highland’s Airrica Harper twice and Munster’s Shakyla Askew.

The Kougars’ star, however, understands as the postseason progresses, the competition stiffens with every race.

“I’m more excited to see how well I do against everyone else,” she said. “To me, that’s exciting. I think my best event is the 100. I think the 200 is a lot more difficult. I enjoy the straight-away type race.”

Mulloy is one of 18 ninth-graders competing for coach Lane Lewallen’s Kougars who’ve taken the team by storm and really given them a big boost this spring.

“We’ve taken all the sports and really helped them out,” Mulloy said. “We’ve helped every sport a lot. We’ve accomplished a lot and we’re proud of what we’ve done so far. I think everyone will do well at the sectional, because we’re a very good team. I think we’ll do very well in the regional, too. In a lot of our events, we have a really good (athlete) and then behind them, another one who does really well, too.”

The Kougars’ 400 relay team of Gabby Martin, Ashley Norberg, Joli Jungels and Mulloy -- all freshmen -- ran a school record 1:53.7 indoors at the Hoosier State Relays at Purdue, March 12, breaking the previous record of 1:53.9, set in 1992.

The 1,600 relay team of freshmen Audra Lewis, Martin, Mulloy, and junior Dayton Dellahan, ran a 4:15.05 — good for second at the NCC meet — and is inching closer toward the school record of 4:12 plus.

“You assume nothing,’” Lewallen said. “There’s lots of good individuals in our sectional and some real good teams. I’m just asking our girls to compete like they have all year. I think if we can compete the best that we possibly can, we’ll be happy with the result. We just want to keep it going.”

Mulloy, of course, will compete in all four events at today’s sectional.

“I’ve been thrilled with what she’s done this year,” Lewallen said. “I knew she had talent coming in, but she’s handled things so well. She finished the (Northwest Crossroads Conference) unbeaten in the 100, and with the competition we run against and continue to run against ... I just couldn’t be more proud of the way she’s competed all spring, and the effort we’ve given as a team

“Leeanna wants to run the 1,600. When a kid wants to run the (1,600) relay, that says everything you need to know about her.”

Lewallen said there are several reasons why Mulloy has been so successful this season.

“There’s a lot of strengths for Leanna,” he said. “How strong she finishes her races is one -- she does an excellent job of keeping her form all the way to the end. I’ve also been impressed by how prepared she is and how mentally tough she’s been. She’s a very talented athlete, but she combines that with taking the sport very seriously and that makes a very strong combination.

“What I really like about her, though, is that she stands directly in front of you when you’re talking to her. She listens to every word you say, so you better make sure as a coach you’re telling her exactly what you mean to say, because she’s going to go out and do exactly what you tell her. She’s just mature beyond her years. It’s all those things combined that make her the athlete she is.”

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