FAYETTEVILLE — Amanda Agana has goals set on both the cross country and track and field courses that most sophomores wouldn’t — or couldn’t — imagine.
Originally from Ghana, West Africa, Agana has been in the United States since 2009, when she entered the Fayetteville school district as a sixth-grader. At the time, competing in distance running wasn’t even a small part of Agana’s plans.
That soon changed.
After speaking with her mother, Carol Agana, about taking up running, Agana quickly found not only a gift for the sport, but a passion as well. Soon afterward, Agana found herself as one of the top runners in the 800-meter run and other races while attending Ramay Junior High.
“It took a little while for me to like it, because I thought the training was pointless with the going around in circles,” Agana said. “But then in my first meet I saw everyone working so hard to win. At that first meet, I was in a 100-meter relay and I worked so hard to help my team and they worked so hard for me.
“From that point on, I always wanted to make people happy when I race.”
Agana has continued to please her coaches and teammates.
As a ninth-grader, she set the Fayetteville school record in the 800-meter while competing in the outdoor track season last spring. And this fall, she’s expected to be the driving forced behind a much improved Lady Bulldogs cross country team.
“We expect big things out of Amanda,” Fayetteville cross country coach Michelle Fyfe said. “When we first saw her, we put the franchise tag on her.
“She’s like Sydney Conley is to track and field. That’s what she is to distance running. She’s just special.”
Agana missed her freshman cross country season with a hip flexor injury, but she has set high goals for this season — and beyond.
“I’m working hard to be a long distance and a (middle) distance runner,” Agana said. “I believe I can be that. So if I can be like in the top five in the state in cross country, that would be good. But I also want to be top 20 in the nation in the 800. That is my goal.”
The Lady Bulldogs expect sophomore Carly Page and freshman Abby Pickardt to compete for some top spots as well this year.
“We’re young, but if they learn to race, they could really surprise some people,” Fyfe said. “I think Rogers and Bentonville are at the top, but I think we can be in that top four in the conference.”
The Fayetteville boys team must replace all-state runner Aidan Swain and will lean on underclassmen. Sophomore Scott Lirgg and freshman Jordan Pilkington could be a pair of Bulldogs to watch this fall.
“This is going to be a growing year for the boys,” Fyfe said. “We do have Sebastian Thomas as our senior, but we lost a lot of good runners.”