Up Close: Betsy Garnick

 

By Joe Reardon

 

The intimidation factor was there and it was very real last year for Bishop Guertin’s Betsy Garnick at the outdoor nationals.

The pressure of competing against older, more seasoned competitors took somewhat of a toll on the talented sophomore. Garnick wound up with a disappointing time over 15 seconds in the 100-meter hurdles.

The meet, though, served its purpose as an important learning experience and Garnick expects a far better performance this go around.

“I was really intimidated,” Garnick admitted. “Most of them were older. This year I’m excited about it. I have a lot more confidence. My main goal this year is to finish in the top six and be an All American.”

Garnick should be one of the intimidating forces when she settles in the starting blocks in Greensboro, North Carolina come June 4-16 based on the record-breaking campaign she has amassed this spring. Garnick has completely re-written New Hampshire’s record books in her specialty beginning at the Div. 1 state meet. After clocking a quick 14.60 to easily win her preliminary heat, Garnick pulled off a great start in the final to break the record with a 14.48.

Her impressive run didn’t end there. Competing in New York’s prestigious Loucks Game in the pentathlon in late May, Garnick raced away from the field with a sterling time of 14.36 to drop the mark even further. She gave the track community a glimpse at her versatility by dominating the event with 3,316 points. That total broke the meet record of 3,265 set back in 2004 by New York’s Angela Reed.

Garnick didn’t let the drizzle and chilly temperatures slow her down at Sunday’s Meet of Champions at Londonderry High School. She got off to another quick start at the gun and demolished the state record once more with a sterling 14.27 in the final.

Garnick believed she had a strong shot at breaking the mark after putting up a 14.4 in her preliminary heat. “It felt good,” she said. “I thought I could do better. The finals felt good from the start.”

Garnick’s breakthrough spring hasn’t been the result of talent alone. She has been meticulous in breaking down every race to find the flaws on that particular day and eliminating them. Garnick goes into every workout with a set purpose, whether it is to work on her steps between the hurdles, her starts or accelerating to the finish line.

“It’s all little things I have to get together,” said Garnick. “This is my favorite event and I really focus on it. Before each event I repeat in my head the little things I focused on during the week in practice. Once the race starts, you don’t have time to think.

“I focus on the speed and everything else falls into place.”

An all-around talented athlete, Garnick first began hurdling in the sixth grade. She thought the hurdles presented more of a challenge than simply sprinting and she took a liking to them immediately. Garnick hurdled that spring, but then took a break from the sport in seventh grade to concentrate on gymnastics. She was back on the track in eighth grade and that’s where she has been ever since.

Garnick built plenty of momentum during the winter season and that flowed right into the spring. Racing against the likes of Massachusetts standouts Vanessa Clerveaux of Brockton and Nicole Genard of Somerville, Garnick finished a strong fourth in the New England championships in the 55 hurdles at Boston’s Reggie Lewis Center. Taking into account the deep, talented field she was racing against, Garnick was very pleased with her showing.

“I was seeded second in the preliminaries, but in the final they inched me out,” Garnick said. “I was very happy.”

 Garnick put up a slew of solid showings in the meets leading up to the state meet. She leaped 17-4 in the long jump at the Nashua North Invitational and clocked a quick early-season time of 14.79 in the hurdles to come away with wins in both events. She also owned the competition at the Haverhill Invitational, winning the long jump with a leap of 17-6 and surging across the finish line of the hurdles with a time of 14.86.

One competitor, Hillary Holmes, has challenged the 17-year-old Garnick over the past two years, but Garnick has begun to distance herself from the Exeter High talent. “She’s an amazing athlete,” Garnick said. “For the past two years we’ve been very close in the hurdles. We really push each other. We’ve gone back and forth. I’ve been able to hold her off this year indoors and outdoors.”

With the nationals ahead of her, Garnick hasn’t looked too far ahead, but she does know she wants to concentrate her training on becoming strong in the heptathlon, the event she will compete in in college.

“I really haven’t thought about it much,” she said. “I want to prepare myself for the heptathlon.”