Marquand Running Off Into the Sunset

For Allyson Marquand, cross-country is an afterthought--the second head down on a totem pole topped by soccer.

Which makes the career cross-country highlights for the University High senior even more impressive.

Only two months after setting foot on a cross-country course for the first time as a freshman in 1995, she made a name for herself by winning the Orange County Championships. Three months later she won the Southern Section Division II championship.

Ever since, her name has been a staple on the cross-country scene and it is no surprise that Marquand is The Times Orange County girls’ cross-country runner of the year for the third time. She also won the honor in 1995 and ’96.

“It’s funny,” said Marquand, who recently qualified for the U.S. national 18-and-under soccer team. “I first picked it up as a way to get in shape for soccer. I thought running itself was kind of boring but as it went on I actually started looking forward to practice.”

She won her third consecutive Orange County Championship this year, finishing in 18 minutes and winning by 22 seconds over second-place Alicia McFall of Newport Harbor.

She placed second in the Southern Section Division I final in 17:55, 50 seconds faster than any girl from the county in any division, and was seventh at the West regional in 18:32, qualifying for the national final for the second consecutive year.

Marquand clocked 18:32 in the national final and finished 16th, an improvement of 29 seconds and 12 places from her first appearance. She was the only runner from the county, male or female, to qualify.

Marquand probably would have been the runner of the year four consecutive times, but conflicts with soccer forced her off the University cross-country team midway through the 1997 season.

Now soccer is forcing her out of the sport for good. She has accepted a soccer scholarship to Stanford and said the national final Dec. 12 was her last cross-country race.

“My freshman year, my only goal was to make the varsity team,” Marquand said. “So I can’t be disappointed with 16th in the nation, especially knowing it wasn’t my primary sport.