Reflecting on her trials

By Shane Mettlen

Published: July 12, 2008

She’ll be a senior at the University of Tennessee this fall, but Sarah Bowman’s education is far from over.

The Warrenton native and former track star at Fauquier High School picked up a few lessons about competing against some of the world’s best runners in the last week at the U.S. Olympic trials in Eugene, Ore. Bowman finished eighth in the 1,500-meter run on July 6, eight seconds away from a spot on the Olympic team.

Bowman, the only college runner to make the finals of the 1,500, went into the trials with dreams of Beijing. Though she left the meet short of that goal, she learned a lot about what it takes to compete on an international level.

“Anytime things don’t go your way you can use it to do better the next time,” Bowman said. “That’s true about everything in life, but I think running is really like that and you just learn from the experience.”

If Bowman does any better it will put her in some elite company. She finished the race in 4:16.54, but was nearly knocked off the track in the early part of the race.

Bowman, who’s still getting a grasp on how to run in a packed field, never truly recovered and her time at the trials was nine second slower than the 4:07.50 she ran in route to a third-place finish at the NCAA Outdoor Championships in June.

“Sarah has learned to navigate her way through crowds and not panic when there are a bunch of people around her,” Tennessee coach J.J. Clark told volunteertv.com after the NCAA’s.

Bowman skillfully kept her balance and managed to stay on the track despite the jostling at the trials, but in the end it was a somewhat painful lesson learned.

“I feel good about the experience and I’m glad I got to go,” she said. “But you always want to do better.”

Now she’ll turn her focus to competing for an NCAA title next year and gear up for future national and international events. Another shot at the Olympics looms in four years, but Bowman knows the track world doesn’t call it quits after Beijing.

“A lot of people know about the Olympics,” she said.

“But next year is another opportunity to make the World (Championships) team. I don’t necessarily have to wait for four years.”

Running in front of 20,000 track crazy fans won’t be a foreign experience from now on and Bowman is relaxed when it comes to dealing with growing recognition and expectations.

“You can’t think of it as pressure,” she said. “You train for it all year and it’s a great moment, but sometimes the moment goes your way and sometimes it doesn’t.”

From here on out there’s a good chance the former Fauquier Falcon will see it go her way more often than not.

Shane Mettlen can be reached at 825-0771, ext. 127 or