Efurd Overcomes Injury To Finish Season Strong

STAFF PHOTO ANTHONY REYES • @NWATONYR Emily Efurd of Rogers High is the girls Class 7A/6A Newcomer of the Year.
STAFF PHOTO ANTHONY REYES • @NWATONYR Emily Efurd of Rogers High is the girls Class 7A/6A Newcomer of the Year.

ROGERS -- A hedge apple nearly derailed the end of the cross country season for Rogers High freshman Emily Efurd.

A few days before the Chili Pepper Run, Efurd was out for a casual run with teammates on the cross county course by the high school. The site is the annual host for the 7A-West Conference meet, but it is lined with trees that bear 3- to 6-inch diameter hedge apples.

All-NWA Media Girls Cross Country Newcomer of the Year

Class 7A/6A

Emily Efurd

School: Rogers High

Class: Freshman

Notable: Finished third at the Class 7A State Cross Country Championships with a season best time of 19:42. … Missed two meets with a sprained ankle. … Finished in 13th place at the 7A-West Conference Meet despite not being at 100 percent.

"I had them do an easy 30-minute run because we wanted to avoid injuries," said Rogers cross country coach Carlton Efurd, who is Efurd's father. "The hedge apples are all over the course, and I go around and kick them off the course all the time. It's like a mine field, and Emily was in a group and she hit one of them."

The result was a sprained ankle, and Efurd would miss the Chili Pepper and the next race in Van Buren. Efurd was not at full speed for the conference meet, but the Lady Mounties freshman finished in 13th place with a time of 20:06.7.

"I was devastated when I first got hurt," Efurd said. "I cried so much, but it pushed me to finish the season strong."

Two weeks later at the Class 7A Cross Country Meet, Efurd's ankle was nearly healed, but she was suffering from bronchitis. That didn't stop Efurd from running her best time of the year with a 19:42.3 as she finished third overall while helping the Lady Mounties to a runner-up finish behind state champion Bentonville.

For her efforts, Efurd is the NWA Media All-Area Class 7A/6A Girls Cross Country Newcomer of the Year. Efurd's older siblings, Cameron and Courtney, were both all-state runners at Rogers before competing in college at Arkansas and Central Arkansas, respectively.

"The state meet was the first time she didn't run with any tape, but the week before state, she started coughing," Carlton Efurd said. "She was real iffy on how she would do because I didn't know if she would be able to breath OK. If your breathing is not good, it is tough to run a good race. But when she did what she did I was thinking, 'Where did that come from?'

"Emily was really focused on that race. She had been coming to this race for years, and she had been looking forward to it for so long. She caught that first group, and she held on at the end."

Efurd remembers little about her race at the state meet but she said a cup of green tea before the race helped calm her nerves and help her breathing.

"I woke up the day of state, and I said 'No matter how I feel, I am going to make it a good day,'" Efurd said. "I just put everything out of my mind and I just focused on the race. I don't remember much of the race, but I knew I had to stay with the front group."

Rogers returns three other top runners in Olivia Groeber, Aubre Gilreath and Lisa Lauschke for next season, and Efurd said the team is looking forward to challenging for a state championship next fall.

"This season was amazing, and it was a big confidence booster," Efurd said.

Sports on 12/27/2014

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