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Mentorship comes full circle for Nature Coast track tandem

 
Kaitlyn Pierce, left, has been able to look up to her Nature Coast teammate Ashley Gentz, a senior.
Kaitlyn Pierce, left, has been able to look up to her Nature Coast teammate Ashley Gentz, a senior.
Published March 23, 2016

BROOKSVILLE — As Nature Coast heads into the final week leading up to the Hernando County track championships, the Sharks can rest assured that they are going to get a big performance out of their most versatile athlete. And this year, from her protege as well.

Senior Ashley Gentz is one of the most versatile and successful track athletes to come through the halls at Nature Coast. Gentz is part of both the 4x100- and 4x400-meter relay teams that own school records. In 2015, Gentz broke the school mark in the 100 meters (12.41). On March 4 at the South Sumter Raider Invite, Gentz set the school record in the long jump (16 feet, 11 inches), an event she just began competing in this season. The 200 and 400 school records are also within reach.

There was no Hernando County championship in 2015. In 2014, the Shark girls team won the two-county title 220.5 points to Crystal River's 132. The makeup of the team was a bit different then. Gentz was just a sophomore and on the other end of the protege-mentor relationship. Gentz had her older sister Alicia helping her along.

"I wanted people to look at me the way they looked at her (Alicia)," Gentz said.

The dynamic traces all the way back to when Gentz was in the sixth grade at Challenger K-8 School of Science and Mathematics in Spring Hill.

"I was a sixth grader, (Alicia) was the big eighth-grader and she was such a great runner," Gentz said. "People would say, 'Oh she's so fast', and I wanted to be that, too."

Gentz began chasing her sister's accomplishments. She found both the competition and the support she needed to become the team leader and point-scoring machine she is today.

"My freshman year (at NCT) (Alicia) took me under her wing," Gentz said. "There were two other seniors on the 4x100-meter relay; they were all welcoming and honest. They told me what I had to do to better myself."

The girls had aims at making the state tournament in the 4x100 and Gentz was the three seniors' best choice for a fourth leg. The relay ended up placing fifth at regionals, just one-tenth of a second from qualifying for state. The 2014 region meet was both cruel and kind. While the 4x100 broke the school record and ran the fastest preliminary time, the team dropped the baton in the finals. The Gentz girls, however, would not be denied as Alicia qualified in the 100 and Ashley in the 200.

"The experience was amazing. Earlier that year, we both medaled at states in weightlifting so getting to experience states with her for track also was so much fun," Gentz said. "I wouldn't have wanted to be there with anyone else."

Gentz was the beneficiary of having a veteran athlete show her the ropes. Now she is the veteran athlete helping junior Kaitlyn Pierce along. Pierce competed sparingly as a freshman but made state in the triple jump as a sophomore. Like Gentz, Pierce also runs all of the sprints. They often come in first and second, and are solid legs on the 4x100 relay. Pierce has come on strong in 2016, setting her personal record in the 200 at the Hernando Kiwanis Invite where she came in second to Gentz.

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"I'm so thankful to have Ashley as a training partner," Pierce said. "She's one of the reasons I am who I am today."

Gentz embraces the role her sister once held.

"It's weird being in the other position now," she said. "I see Kaitlyn look up to me and I want to be the type of role model my sister was to me."

Pierce had better get ready for her role to change as Gentz graduates this summer and freshmen Madison Mookdasanit and Savannah Ferguson — also sprinters — will need someone to look up to for guidance.