WEEKI WACHEE – Each meet brings an intriguing challenge for Nature Coast girls track and field coach Nikki Pierce, the type any coach would probably love to have.
She must decide how best to configure her lineup, particularly with her two top athletes, Ashley Gentz and Kaitlyn Pierce.
“They’re my two power-horses. It’s hard each week to figure out which one to put in which event, since they’re capped at four events each,” Coach Pierce said. “I just look at each meet and sit down and talk to the girls and ask them what they may want to do. Ultimately the final say-so is with myself and I look at the points because we are a team first versus individuals.
“But they work well together and they feed off of each other, and they have a good dynamic both on and off the track.”
Kaitlyn Pierce, the coach’s daughter, had a strong showing in Tuesday’s Citrus-Hernando Track Meet at Weeki Wachee, helping the Lady Sharks edge Lecanto for first place, 153.83-144.83. The junior won the 100-meter dash in a time of 12.68, while finishing second to Gentz in the 400 (59.49) and adding a second in the triple jump (33-3).
Her time in the 100 was a season best, while the 400 clocking set a new personal record. Additionally, she anchored the 4×400 relay that featured Gentz, Brinson Velma and Eboni Johnson, a team that won with a 4:10.93.
“Today I feel like was one of my best meets so far,” Kaitlyn Pierce said. “I’m starting to see myself peaking since it’s getting closer to districts and our workouts have been getting harder. And I feel like with my coaches pushing us so hard that it’s just showing right now and I’m excited to see what we do at districts, because it’s a whole new atmosphere. Today was just a good day for all of us. As a team we did amazing and individually I did pretty good for myself.
“We knew we had it close with Lecanto, so we all had to do our best like we always do. But most of us were just running for new PRs (personal records). That’s what we always try and do, knowing that some things we’re not going to have competition in. We did our best and we got our first place like we usually do.”
Hampered by a back injury earlier in the season, especially in the triple jump, Pierce feels healthy again and excited as the postseason approaches. The Class 2A, District 7 Meet takes place April 19 at Central. A year ago, she earned a state medal as part of the 4×400, also competing in the triple jump (15th, 32-9 1/2) and 4×100.
Though she can boast plenty of her own accomplishments, it’s that combination with the senior Gentz that stands out, an arrangement that Pierce fully embraces.
“Me and Ashley work great together. She’s like a big sister to me. She really pushes me and I give her competition, too. She likes to chase, so we push each other in the 400,” Pierce said. “She’s one of the best athletes I’ve ever seen, and she’s very nice and just humble about everything. I love that about her.
“It’s a great advantage. I hope that everyone has that person that can push them because it really does get you better. It pushes you at practice, it pushes you everywhere. And definitely having a closer relationship than we did last year, it’s really shown me how I need to be next year definitely to the younger ones on our team.”
Pierce has set her own example for others to follow, only getting into running as a freshman and rising to a high level in a short amount of time.
“A lot of hard work and dedication,” Coach Pierce said. “As a freshman, she trained offseason with a private strength and conditioning coach. She works out with the football team all summer, does their strength and conditioning program. And then she’s also on a dance team, she’s a competitive dancer at a studio. And then she’s of course on the girls weightlifting team. So it all builds on top of each other and she’s just hitting it hard.”
As for the mother-daughter dynamic, that has worked out well for Nature Coast, too.
“Teenage girls are teenage girls. So it’s 24/7 for us,” Coach Pierce said. “We have a great relationship at home. That helps, otherwise we wouldn’t be able to do it. Sometimes I defer her to other coaches with the message that I want to give her because she’ll listen to them more than she’ll listen to mom. But ultimately she respects what I have to say and knows that I have the knowledge and the ultimate say-so.”
Pierce hopes to compete at the college level, believing her most realistic options are out of state. She’ll have a chance to pad her resume if she can return to states and collect more hardware in the coming weeks.
“Honestly, I do better going into meets not thinking about winning. I just go in for a PR and that’ll get me where it needs to get me. I can only have God by my side to bring me to states if it’s meant to be,” Pierce said. “As a team, we all should do very well. Our practice next week since we got a week off, it’s going to be killing us, but it’s going to determine how we do in districts.”
Follow Chris Bernhardt Jr. on Twitter @cpbernhardtjr.