ATHLETES OF THE WEEK: LANE THOMASSON

School: Cape Central

Sport: Cross country

Coach: Mark Hahn

Weekly Report: Thomasson, a senior, took first place among about 70 runners in the Cape Central Invitational last Saturday with a time of 17:34. Her time was 14 seconds faster than the second-place runner on the 2.6-mile course. The Central girls took fourth place among six schools which fielded enough runners to have a team.

Season Report: Thomasson, who took second place at the Jackson Invitational earlier this year, has literally come from nowhere. Last year, she wasn't even a varsity runner. Her improvement is a testament of a lot of hard work.

Coach's comments: "She's made tremendous strides this year," Hahn said. "This is the first year she's run varsity for us. It's been the dedication on her part. She decided to start working for this season last year and she never stopped. That type of (improvement) just doesn't happen and it's neat to see the example that she's set for the other kids. She's tough. She likes whatever conditions are out there. There's nothing that really bothers her. She seems to make the challenges a positive for her. But the main thing that stands out about her is that she's worked so hard."