Pennington set for competition
PITTSBURGH — Injuries don't stop Rebecca Pennington.
They merely slow her down — temporarily.
The Karns City graduate and Chatham University sophomore had her cross country season cut short after incurring shin splints last fall. That denied her a chance to break her own school and Presidents' Athletic Conference records she established in 2018.
“I had shin splints in both legs,” Pennington said. “I had to wear a splint for six weeks.”
Pennington suffered three stress fractures between her freshman and sophomore years at Karns City. She came back strong from those injuries to dominate District 9.
And with Chatham's indoor season getting under way, Pennington is ready to go again.
“I'm good to go,” she said. “The more I have to sit, the more I want to do.”
Erin Gale is in her first year as Chatham's cross country and track and field coach. She was not around last season when Pennington was named the PAC's Most Outstanding Performer after winning the 3,000 meters in 10 minutes, 20.55 seconds, the 5,000 meters in 17:58.46 and placing second in the mile (5:20.19) at the conference meet.
Her 3,000 and 5,000 times set PAC records.
It didn't take Gale long to discover what kind of distance runner she had in Pennington. She was a standout distance runner herself.
“Becca excels at the longer distances,” Gale said. “She knows how to push through pain. She's so self-motivated ... Sometimes I have to scale her back a little bit.
“She's got the mentality a distance runner needs to have.”Pennington has company in distance running at Chatham this season in standout Emma Kline, a freshman from New Jersey.“I know they're gonna be our dynamic duo,” Gale said. “Those two will push each other all the time. They will keep making each other better with every meet.”Pennington welcomes the company.“My goals are to improve my times in everything,” she said. “When I came here, I figured I could get the Chatham records pretty quickly. I was surprised I got the league records so fast.“I want to get to (Division III) nationals in all three sports (cross country, indoor and outdoor track) before I'm done here.”Pennington may compete in the distance medley relay during the indoor season along with the mile, 3.000 and 5,000. She figures to run the 1,500, 5K and 10K during the outdoor season.“Coach Gale has been very supportive,” Pennington said. “I'm learning a lot from her.”Chatham's first indoor meet of the season is Saturday. The conference meet is Feb. 27.“Becca's been training and it may take her a couple of meets to catch up,” Gale said. “But I know how strong a runner she is, how competitive she is.“She's a hungry athlete by nature. Missing cross country season has only made her hungrier.”
