Pomperaug Junior Chasing DeBalsi's Standards In Connecticut

By Mary Albl of DyeStat

It's the fall of 2014 and Hannah DeBalsi is in the middle of her junior year of cross country at Staples High in Westport, Conn. She's coming off a track season where she ran 9:55 in the 2-mile. She's one of the most decorated high school runners in the entire country.

Roughly 45 minutes away in the town of Southbury, Kate Wiser is being introduced to the sport of running. She's a sixth grader at Rochambeau Middle School and the No. 7 runner on the cross country team.

Looking back, Wiser admits she had no idea who DeBalsi was at that time. Now, years later, and a junior at Pomperaug High, she has a crystal clear idea of who DeBalsi is – as she's on pace to challenge, and perhaps surpass some of DeBalsi's course records.

"I didn't follow anything, but now I've looked back at her (DeBalsi), her races, and everything, and it's awesome," Wiser said.  

The two runners have never met, but they share a common bond as being two fierce female runners that call the state of Connecticut home. Wiser, while creating her own path, mirrors DeBalsi in many respects. Both are small-framed runners that present a quiet demeanor – DeBalsi, 5-foot-3 in high school, Wiser stands at an even 5-feet – photos of the two emulate a similar competitive expression and a shared unquenchable desire to win.

"They both are really successful. They both compete really hard," Pomperaug cross country coach Mark Goodwin said. "When the gun goes off, 'boom' off they go. If someone is going to go out with them, well, good luck, and hope you can hang. And she's (Kate) relentless in that respect, and that's kind of how Hannah was, too."

Wiser is the first runner in Connecticut with a legitimate shot to go after some of DeBalsi's course records at Wickham Park in Manchester, the site of this year's New England Cross Country Championships.

DeBalsi, a three-time Foot Locker All-American, and now a senior at Stanford, holds the fastest 5,000-meter time at Wickham of 17:41, established in 2013. The next three-fastest times on the course all have DeBalsi's name. The No. 5 spot, 17:59, is a tie between DeBalsi and Wiser, who won the State Open at Wickham Park last fall. According to records from the runningacademy.com, DeBalsi and Wiser are the only two females to ever run under 18 minutes on the 5K Wickham course.

“It would be really cool to have the course record at Wickham,” Wiser said. “I don’t know if I’m at that level yet, but I’m working toward it.”

DeBalsi said she never really thought about the records when she was in high school, but knows they won’t last forever. 

“I guess you want to inspire people to be the best version of themselves,” DeBalsi said. “So if I can help with that, great.”

HANNAH DEBALSI'S SENIOR YEAR JOURNAL FOR DYESTAT

Wiser's path to greatness started in middle school. She credits her experience on the cross country team for sparking a genuine joy in the sport. As a freshman at Pomperaug she started to make a name for herself statewide, leading her team to a Class L state title, finishing second in the race (18:35) and runner-up at the State Open (18:42). Last year she helped her team to a Class MM title, winning individual honors in MM (18:32), Open (17:59) and ran away with the New England crown (18:04) in Manchester, N.H. on a cold and blustery afternoon.   

“When she got to high school, all of the sudden she was there as a freshman and she was just ahead of everybody,” Goodwin said. “And since that moment, that’s where she’s been. She stepped right in, took the lead, worked extremely hard. Whether it’s doing extra pushups, doing repeat sessions, miles we're doing, she doesn't cheat on anything.”

Wiser went on to place fifth (17:52.8) at the Foot Locker Northeast Regionals a year after missing qualifying for the national race in San Diego by one spot. She ended her cross country season with a seventh-place finish at Nationals (17:32.2). 

“I’m determined and focused on what I want to accomplish,” said Wiser, No. 7 in the latest DyeStat individual rankings. 

After a winter slowed down by an IT band injury, Wiser came back strong to end her track season with an Outdoor New England title in the 3,200 (10:22.24). 

“The winter was really tough, that was the longest I’ve been injured,” Wiser said. “Mentally it was very challenging because the cross training is not running. It’s not what you really love to be doing.”

Wiser is back and better than ever doing what she loves. On Sept. 28, she churned out the 15th-fastest time ever recorded at Bowdoin Park at 17:55.5 to win the Varsity I race in Wappingers Falls, N.Y.  

“I’ve been wanting to get a race like that in,” she said. “It was a lot of fun.” 

Wiser won’t have any big races until the end of the month as she ramps up for the postseason. She’ll look to defend her State Open on Nov. 1 and New England title on Nov. 9, and see if she can write her name in the record book at Wickham in the process. And she may just have a new fan keeping watch from the west coast.

“I feel like people (in Connecticut) are looking out for each other,” DeBalsi said of the running community. “(Back in high school) it was nice feeling like Connecticut runners were pushing each other forward.”