Pine Crest's Julia Montgomery Excited To Join William & Mary Tribe


With a quick glance at her stats, it doesn't look like Julia Montgomery has faced many challenges throughout her running career. With four individual state titles, four runner-up finishes and 11 state medals, the Pine Crest senior has reached heights many runners can only dream of.

Montgomery, however, has faced her fair share of ups and downs: winning the 2A state xc meet as a freshman and sophomore, only to place eighth as a junior; coming back in the 2014 track season to run a 10:43.16 3200 and 5:00.95 1600, both PRs, at FSU during the regular season, but falling short of those times and a state title at the state meet.

"[It looks like] things have just come easy for her, but that would not be an accurate representation of how much she has had to work," Montgomery's coach Paul Baur said. "When people would count her out and think she was done, Julia would always respond when it mattered the most."

Baur describes Montgomery as a "fierce competitor", a quality seen in her four years of competitive running. Even in her 2014 cross country season, when she placed her lowest (eighth) at states, Montgomery ran a 18:52.00, only a minute off her 2012 PR of 17:52.60.

"I have changed so much through my high school career and I've learned a lot about the sport from my parents, coaches, and all the people I have met," Montgomery said. "I've set the bar high for myself and I enjoy the challenges that I've faced and everything that has made me into the athlete I am today."

And the athlete she is today is pretty top-level. After four years of running, Montgomery looks to finish her final state meet with a title she hasn't been a part of while at Pine Crest- a team one. For the past three years, Pine Crest has finished runner-up to Bolles, but after besting Bolles at Pre-State, they look to change that stream.

"[Our goal] is as simple as [winning states], and it's been a looming goal ever since my first day running as a Panther four years ago," she said. "Personally, I have a couple more races to make this last cross country season something memorable and I'm so pumped to be stronger than I have ever been in track season."

After her career as a Panther ends, Montgomery will be donning a new jersey: William and Mary.

"I always told myself that I wanted to go somewhere up north with nice people and a pretty campus. Making a decision on college is supposed to be a little more complicated than that, but in the end it was pretty simple," she said. "William and Mary was a place where I felt like I would make a good impact and I knew I would succeed in running and beyond."

Of course, it's the little things that make a college the right fit as well, and after finding that in William & Mary, Montgomery is ready to be a part of the Tribe.

"I look forward to wearing matching ribbons at races, running in buns, having a runner roommate, and getting to travel all over the country with the team," she said. "The weather in Virginia will be beautiful to run in, and I might be a little too excited to see the seasons change every year. I can't wait to meet new people and be in the best shape of my life."

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