Boots becomes National Champion in the mile, Clement wins All-American honors

Randelle Boots '13 became the National Champion in the mile run at the 2011 NCAA Indoor Track and Field Championships, hosted by Capital University in Columbus, Ohio.  She becomes one of only two National Champions in Wellesley's history.  

Boots joins the company of Karyn Cooper ‘92 as the school's only other national title winner.  Cooper won the 1991 NCAA Tennis Singles Championship.

After keeping pace with the leaders for most of the race, Boots took charge in the final laps in order to secure the win.  With a lightning time of 4:57.46, much faster then any other competitor and over a second faster then the second place finisher, Boots completely took control in the last lap and left the rest of the field behind her.   

"I did what I always do, I treated it like any other race, mostly just to keep myself from being super nervous," Boots said.  "It was a really tight pack, with a really challenging field, but in the last lap, instincts kicked in and I just booked it and took off."

Last year, Boots came in third in the mile at the same competition.  This year, Boots entered the field as the number one seed with the fastest time. Knowing that all eyes were set on her, Boots faced an extra mental challenge.  "It was a little stressful, but it was fun.  I knew a lot of people I was racing and a lot of us are friends. I like having that about racing because it makes it a more friendly competition."

In addition to her national title and her All-American status this year, Boots has All-American honors in cross-country from 2010.  Boots relied on her cross-country experience to help her get through the last few laps in the mile.  "[That experience] definitely helped me pull through and know that the pain is going to go away, because it's definitely painful when you pass that fourth lap."

Last year was Boots' first year ever running track and she plans on continuing on her path to becoming an even better runner. "I'm excited to grow, I'm excited to get faster and stronger," she said.  

After being an All-American for two consecutive years and now a National Champion, Boots has some ambitious goals for her future running career. These plans may even include a trip to the Olympic trials. When asked about her future plans she said, "We'll see where it takes me.  Maybe it will take me to the Olympics, maybe it will take me to more national championships…We'll see.  We'll have fun with it."

In addition to the accomplishment of Boots becoming National Champion in the mile, Leah Clement '12 earned her first career All-American honors at the competition.  She took sixth place in the 800-meter run with a time of 2:14.00.

The two-woman team placed the Blue at 11th overall in the team scoring. While it is only the Blue's first year as a varsity program, they still finished just three points off of a top-ten team finish with 13 points overall.

 A "welcome back to campus" celebration was held in Tishman Commons to congratulate both runners.