VYPE Lamar CISD September 2022

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in a little bit of everything, from baseball to golf to basketball. He used to play soccer. Gilmore is a young man mature beyond his years. His enthusiasm, work ethic and positive nature are infectious. It ’s something he credits from watching his mother, Christie, coach in the Stafford Youth Basketball Association. “I’d always be around her and see how positive she was with the girls,” he said. “I try to take an example from her.” Gilmore hopes to one day compete in the Olympics. As for this season, he is shooting for PRs of sub-11 minutes in the 2K and sub 17-minutes in the 5K . “I want to have school records when I leave,” Gilmore said. “I would like to be a par t of this school for years and years after I’m gone.”

“When I push myself to do things that are over an ex tended period of time, my mind is a lot stronger,” he said. “During long distances, mentally, I can relax a little bit more. I’m calmer, rather than when I run sprints, I’m constantly pushing and worrying about getting it done with.” Gilmore loves what the spor t of running awards him. “It makes me feel better mentally and physically,” he said. “After a long run, I feel reborn in a way. I feel I can do more afterward. In a meet , I like that I can control my race. However I want it to go depends all on how hard I want to push.” Gilmore enhanced his training this summer, spending more time in the weight room to accommodate the 40 miles he put in every week . He is a natural athlete. In his free time, he dabbles

the 5K run in his first year running either race. Randle head cross country/track and field coach Dee McNeal projects Gilmore to finish in the top 20 at worst , and top 10 at best , at the district cross country meet this season as the Lions introduce themselves to the varsity ranks. “Norman is one of my hardest workers,” McNeal said. “His leadership and positivity have been amazing. Had he not told me he never ran before last year, I would have thought he had been running since junior high.” Gilmore found a more comfor table state of mind running distance opposed to sprints. He was able to pace himself better and conserve more energy. That comfor t put him at ease, which made him relaxed and poised during races.

AS A TRACK AND FIELD ATHLETE IN MIDDLE SCHOOL, NORMAN GILMORE WASN’T TOO STRONG OF A SPRINTER. SO, GOING INTO HIS FRESHMAN YEAR LAST SUMMER, HE THOUGHT HE’D GIVE LONG DISTANCE A TRY. “I had my first cross country meet , got 23rd and thought I was doing pretty good,” the Randle sophomore said. “It ’s kind of been my thing since then.” Randle, which opened its doors as Lamar Consolidated ISD’s six th high school last August , did not compete in varsity spor ts in 2021-22 . Gilmore, who still runs track but only does the 1600 and 3200 meter runs now, placed seventh in the 3200 at the junior varsity district track in the spring, running a time of 5-minutes, 6-seconds. As a cross country runner last fall , Gilmore set personal records of 11:30 in the two mile run and 19 minutes in

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