ASU sophomore Amanda Lyon began running in the eighth grade at Tempe McKemy Middle School.
Not too long later, she was running away with success at Phoenix Desert Vista High School as a three-time all-state and East Valley all-region runner and a second-place finisher at the 2000 Class 5A state meet. While attending Desert Vista, Lyon lettered for four years, receiving team Most Valuable Players honors as a senior. But even with all the accolades, her greatest achievement didn't come during her high school days.
"My biggest accomplishment would be being able to compete at ASU, at the collegiate level," Lyon said.
Lyon's ability to compete stems from hours of training.
"She comes to practice with a great attitude," Sun Devil cross country head coach Walt Drenth said. "She has a good work ethic and trains hard."
Although there has been only one meet this fall, Lyon is already showing improvement from last season. She will be looked upon to help lead the Sun Devils, who lost several runners to graduation last year. Lyon hopes her hard work will help her teammates prepare for the NCAA Championships.
"I've matured since last year," Lyon said. "Everything is not so new. I can take things in stride now."
Lyon is not as surprised by the difficulty of the workouts, which enables her to concentrate on running.
"I need to improve on competing, and there is still a lot I need to learn about racing," Lyon said. "I still need to work on racing objectively without getting emotional if something isn't going right and to not fear the unknown."
Drenth said Lyon is on the path toward success.
"She has made great progress, and will turn into an exceptional distance runner," he said.
Lyon logged a 10th-place finish earlier this month at the Adidas Invitational in South Bend, Ind. She was the top Sun Devil finisher among returning runners at the meet.
"I was pretty happy," Lyon said. "I didn't really have any expectations, except to do my best and, I think I fulfilled those expectations."
Lyon has retained a positive outlook for the season even though the Sun Devils finished in last place at Notre Dame.
"We may not be ranked as high now, but we have the ability to compete," she said.
Reach the reporter at katie.crane@asu.edu.
