Savannah Lingle ran her last high school cross country race on Saturday, Nov. 2, but the North Platte senior will be returning to central Missouri next fall for college.
The two-time all-state runner signed a letter of intent to run for Central Methodist University, a NAIA school in Fayette, Mo.
The school first noticed Lingle last fall after she became the first all-stater at North Platte. A visit to the campus secured the pathway for Lingle, a Dearborn resident, to become a collegiate runner.
She will now run cross country, indoor track and field and outdoor track and field for the Eagles.
“It is something I love,” she said of running. “It wasn’t that hard (to decide).”
While Lingle has proven her meddle on courses and tracks, what some people don’t see are the moments on the track where a family member hands her an inhaler to help her finish the races.
“It is pretty hard,” she said. “There are a lot of meets I feel, physically, like I can’t finish but somehow I do. Some meets are easy and others we are trying to get it under control.”
In many cross country meets this year Lingle has needed help to get up as soon as she crossed the finish line. During the Platte County Invitational earlier this fall, a mad dash was made to get her an inhaler.
That was a race that was memorable for a few reasons.
She had gotten into an accident earlier in the week and had a sore shoulder. It was suggested she take the meet off to recover.
She didn’t. Lingle ran the race and after getting an inhaler from a family member she took a few puffs. She then tossed it aside and kept running.
Contributed photo
North Platte runner Savannah Lingle (front row, center) signed to run cross country and track and field at Central Methodist. Joining her in the ceremony are her parents on the front row, Ryan and Jessica Lingle and in the back row, from left, is North Platte cross country and track and field coach Brendan Cary and Central Methodist cross country coach and track assistant coach Jacob Portock.
“Someone told me to walk off and not finish the race and I was maybe only 400 (meters) away,” she recalled. “I am not walking off the course now.”
But that is the thing with Lingle. She thrives on doubt. It drives her.
“When people tell me I can’t do something. I show them and prove to them that I can do and I will do it better than they think I can,” she said. “I am determined to do anything.”
She was a consummate leader for North Platte coach Brendan Cary.
“Kids overcome that and that is her story,” Cary said. “She has always overcome any challenge you don’t think she can do. She is like ‘watch me.’”
Lingle’s words were on the back of the shirts and hooded sweatshirts worn by the teams at the state meet this past weekend.
‘It is not about being the best, it is about being better than you used to be’ were the words emblazoned on the backs of dozens with ties to North Platte, either runners or parents.
Lingle is only the second cross country runner from North Platte to move onto the collegiate ranks. The first was McKenna Fulton, now running at William Jewell.
“She will be successful and she will do great because she is willing to put in the work and she has a great attitude … it is so cool she will move on,” Cary said of Lingle, his de facto captain. “But college scholarships are the last thing we are concerned about. We offer kids a great high school experience, you learn hard work and learn determination, learn how to be a good teammate and a good person. That is part of it. I’m excited she will be a great nurse, a great person and a great parent and all of that I think, hopefully, part of that is being part of this program.