Athlete: Lydia Olivere
Year: Sophomore
School: Padua Academy
Location: Wilmington, DE
1600m PR: 4:57.11
3200m PR: 10:46.70
5DAA Industry Opt Out: 17:30.23
Key Workout:
• 1.5-mile warmup with stretching, drills and stride-outs
• 8 x 800 meters on a hill with a 250-meter incline and the rest rolling to flat, in 2:50 down to 2:45. Three minutes jog/walk recovery between runs
• One-mile cooldown with stretching
Lydia Olivere of Delaware, who has achieved breakthrough victories this season in Pennsylvania and New York, will be seeking her second-straight Division I title in Saturday’s Delaware state cross-country championships. Olivere, a 15-year-old sophomore at Padua Academy, a girls Catholic school, triumphed last year in 18:37 for 5K at hilly Brandywine Creek State Park in Wilmington, the team’s favorite training site. This time, empowered by her recent invitational triumphs over nationally ranked runners, Olivere hopes to run about a minute faster.
State Triple: In her dazzling freshman season, Olivere won state track championships in the mile indoors and 1600 and 3200 meters outdoors. She had several sub-5:00 1600 performances with a 4:57.11 PR. That time made Olivere the 10th-fastest freshman in the country in the 1600 for the 2015 spring season. Together with her state cross-country victory, Olivere achieved a 2014–15 “triple crown” with state titles in all three seasons, rare for a freshman.
Lehigh Breakthrough: In September at the Paul Short Invitational at Lehigh University in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, Olivere was able to cover a break made at two miles by Olivia Sargent of Pennsbury, the 2014 Nike Cross Nationals Northeast Regional champion. In the cold, rainy conditions, Olivere went on to outkick Sargent for the win in 17:49 for 5K. “It was really exciting to know that I could run with the top girls I was reading about,” she said.
Manhattan Moment: With her young Padua team rebuilding, Olivere ran a varsity “letter” race in October at the Manhattan Invitational as opposed to the Eastern States Championship at Van Cortlandt Park in the Bronx. On the 2.5-mile course, Olivere ran 14:08.6 to take varsity “D” by 20 seconds over state contenders from Massachusetts and New Jersey. Her time would have placed her third in the Easterns, in which New York national stars Jessica Lawson (Corning Painted Post East) and Kaitlyn Neal (Fayetteville-Manlius) placed 1-2.
Training Program: Olivere runs about 30 miles a week. On Mondays, Padua girls do an easy run plus 30 minutes of lap swimming. Wednesday is stationary bicycling plus a light run. Tuesday and Thursday are workout days. Friday is prerace prep for Saturday. Sunday is off.
Hill Workout: A team staple that Olivere favors is 8 x 800 on a Brandywine hill. The hill is a gradual ascent for about 250 meters, then it rolls and levels off before the Padua athletes turn back at 800 for a three-minute recovery. Olivere usually starts her reps at 2:50, and works her time down to 2:45. She says the workout is a big confidence-builder for 5K racing.
Nike Nationals: Olivere is excited about her chances for a Nike Cross Nationals berth from the Southeast Regional, scheduled for November 28 in Cary, North Carolina. Last year, Olivere placed 13th. Shoes & Gear.
Fast Family: Influenced by parents and an older sister, Lindsey, all top runners, Lydia started running in middle school and was a dominant cross-country champion in her Catholic schools league. Lydia has another older sister, Maddie, a junior on the Padua squad and currently the team’s No. 2 girl. Lindsey, who was graduated from Duke last spring, will be flying in from Durham to watch her sisters compete at state. Lydia has several aunts and uncles who were also all-state runners in their day. Both her grandfathers were notable runners as well.
County Clash: Olivere’s last meet before state was on November 7 in the New Castle county championship, a major Delaware event with many of the state’s top teams, including regional power Tatnall, a Padua rival. On the tail end of a sinus infection with a high fever in which she’d had to miss three days of training, Olivere, the defender, took second to Tatnall freshman Keelen Hayes, who caught her in the final strides of the 5K event. Hayes ran 18:02. Olivere, in 18:03, was still satisfied because, despite her illness, she improved her 2014 time by 43 seconds.
Course Confidence: With Padua’s regular workouts at Brandywine, Olivere has the utmost confidence in running the state meet on familiar trails. She said she feels “hungrier for a good performance” after her county setback. With Tatnall in state Division II, Olivere will not get a rematch with Hayes but will face last year’s state Division I runner-up, Newark senior Rachel Beston, who took third in the New Castle county meet.
Dream Athlete: “Because of her family,” said Padua coach Marnie Giunta, “Lydia is very knowledgeable about the sport and determined to be successful. She is also humble and a dream athlete to coach. At counties, in her first-ever in-state cross-country defeat, she handled herself with more poise than I’ve seen in upperclassmen and even adults.”
Nature’s Call: One run that inspired Lydia’s love of cross-country occurred when she and Maddie were out on a nearby park trail. “We were on a long run and saw a bunch of deer,” said Lydia. “We thought they would run away, but they just moved a little, creating a path for us as we ran past them. It was a great feeling being close to nature and so cool that the deer didn’t feel threatened by us.”
Marc Bloom’s high school cross-country rankings have played an influential role in the sport for more than 20 years and led to the creation of many major events, including Nike Cross Nationals and the Great American Cross Country Festival. He published his cross-country journal, Harrier, for more than two decades.
