Joanna and Kathleen Stevens are identical twins (Photo, right, by Frank Locascio).
With their blond hair and similar physiques, there’s no denying that about the Blacksburg (Va.) High runners.
Head track and cross-country coach James Demarco says it took him at least two weeks to distinguish who was who between the twins.
Joanna jokes that it was “more like a year.”
The two siblings even share a similar discipline in the classroom where both maintain an ‘A’ average.
The difference between the talented Virginia harriers, it seems, comes when the racing shoes are laced up.
Heck, someone has to finish in front of the other.
Even if it’s often by the smallest of margins.
‘They are very competitive with each other. They are best friends, but they are also best competitors,” Demarco said. “When one does something well, the other one wants to do same.”
According to Joanna, the edge so far this season goes to her sister. But that doesn’t mean she’s not doing her share.
With the cross-country season a little more than a month old, the Stevens twins have recorded some of the fastest times in the country for the five-kilometer distance. Ironically - in separate races - both have run identical personal best times of 17 minutes, 44 seconds this fall, ranking them 13th and 14th on the national listing.
On Sept 26, Kathleen achieved her clocking by finishing as a runner-up in the U.S. Army Cross-Country Festival in Richmond. Just a week later, Joanna matched that effort when she was a mere two seconds ahead of her sister in taking fourth at the Great American Cross-Country Festival in Cary, N.C.
A summer of some hearty training that included 14-mile runs on the weekend, four days of weight-lifting and interval work has been a major contributor to the twins’ success on the trails where they have already shaved nearly a minute off their bests from last year.
“Everything in the summer just started clicking for Joanna and me,” Kathleen (Photo, left, by John Herzog) said.
It’s shouldn’t come as a surprise that the Stevens have excelled this fall, but it’s not where they have made their marks since arriving at Blacksburg as incoming freshmen. They have caught more attention on what they’ve done on the track oval.
The two sisters are a primary reason that the Blacksburg program, currently ranked No. 1 in the southeast region, attained the “Triple Crown” last year by capturing the cross-country, indoor and outdoor track team titles at the Virginia AA State Championships.
Both runners are particularly strong in the 1,600 where they have steadily moved up the ranks. Joanna cracked the 5-minute barrier a handful of times her junior campaign, including a PB of 4:58.. Kathleen has teetered near a sub-five, running 5-minutes flat.
“This year,” Demarco said. “We are hoping they go under 4:50.”
The Blacksburg coach and the competition got a good indication that the Stevens twins would make an impact in cross country this season in the very first meet, the annual Great Meadows Invitational in Warrenton. In a runaway victory, Joanna copped the individual crown with an 18:12 clocking. Despite battling a sickness before the race, Kathleen still managed second at 18:51.
“Before everyone knew them as milers,” Demarco said. “For them to do that, it was kind of eye-opening to see where they were.”
The eyes continued to open in the weeks ahead. Finishing second at Maymont, Kathleen (17:44) was only a few ticks away from overall champion Carolyn Baskir of North Carolina’s East Chapel High, who won at 17:42 Joanna placed third in 18:02. The sisters flip-flopped in their placements at Great American by taking fourth and fifth with Baskir (US #4, 17:14) again taking the top prize in the meet, which attracts top schools and athletes from eastern coast.
Joanna, who is the “younger” of the twins, born eight minutes later, admits that they are your typical siblings, squabbling like any two sisters would. Over the years, the fact that they have similar athletic abilities has also been a positive.
“We get along most of the time,” Joanna (Photo, right, by John Herzog) said. “Sometimes on our regular runs one of us we’ll have to tell the other, ‘Slow down, you are going too fast!’ On workout days we definitely help each other. We’ve gotten a lot better this past year than in the past. We have definitely become more friends.”
“It’s kind of a mental easiness running with her,” she added. “It’s just comforting to know that she’s there.”
“It gets old sometimes, but I think overall it makes us better,” admitted Kathleen, about the sibling rivalry. “We always have someone to push. It’s kind of like racing every day; the person you want to beat the most is always in practice.”
The Stevens twins next competition will be on Oct. 15 when they toe the line at the Abington (Va.) Invitational. After a nearly two-week layoff, they’ll finish up at the state level with a trio of meets, including the River Ridge Districts, the Region IV Championships and the Virginia AA State Championships on Nov. 14.
After that, a possible date in the Nike Cross-Country Nationals in Portland, Ore., is on the docket where Demarco is hoping his talented team will also be making the trip for the Dec. 5 meet.
Both runners should be battling for individual supremacy at the state title meet next month.
“It looks like there’s not going to be any individual competition,” Kathleen said. “We’ve got to race each other and see what time we can get.”
At what point in the race will one sibling have an edge on the other? (Photo, left, by Brandon Miles)
“I have more endurance and she has more speed,” said Joanna, the 2009 indoor state titlist in the 1,600 and the outdoor champion in the 1,600 and 3,200. Kathleen claimed the 1,000 crown last year. “I’m mentally tougher, but I know if it goes down to a kick, nine times out of 10 she’s going to beat me. I have to make her hurt.”
Kathleen admits when it comes down to the end, and it’s a race between her and her sister for first place, she’s not overly thrilled.
“That’s my least favorite part,” she said. “It’s hard knowing that one of us is going to lose.”