This is a printer-friendly version of an article from Zip06.com.
03/12/2020 12:00 AMElizabeth De Vaux typically completes the 55-meter hurdles in less than 10 seconds. In her four years with the Indians, Elizabeth has used her time wisely to become a master of her craft and a leader on the track.
Elizabeth recently finished her senior season as a captain for the North Haven girls’ indoor track team. She took third place in the 55-meter hurdles at the SCC West Sectional Championship and also qualified to run the event at the Class L State Championship for the first time in her indoor career. Elizabeth’s top time at both competitions was 9.77 seconds.
“I really didn’t expect to like track as much as I did, but now I’m considering doing it in college, too. It’s become an even bigger part of my life than I ever imagined it could be,” Elizabeth says. “The adrenaline I get when I’m on the starting line is something I don’t really get from anything else.”
Elizabeth remembers going to her first indoor track practice as a freshman. With a background in dance, she decided to give the hurdles a try. While she stands just 5-foot-2, Elizabeth’s flexibility helped her improve in the event throughout her high school career.
Head Coach Marc Celmer says that Elizabeth improved so much by her senior year that she could teach her teammates how to do the hurdles.
“My goal as a coach is that when my athletes become seniors, they can turn around and coach that event to the underclassmen. Elizabeth has reached that point. She knows what she’s doing,” says Celmer. “The underclassmen can look at Elizabeth and follow her footsteps. She has become a master of her event. Watching Elizabeth hurdle is watching an expert complete an event.”
Elizabeth was encouraged to join the track program by some of the veterans on the squad, including former captain Ashley Brown. Brown supported Elizabeth throughout the transition from dance to track and helped her get acclimated to the team.
“Ashley kind of pushed me into it. She was a junior when I was a freshman,” Elizabeth says. “Seeing her being there and then graduate was really cool for me, to see how she supported me into joining this team. She really inspired me.”
When Elizabeth became a senior, she stepped into a captain’s role just like Brown did a few years earlier. Elizabeth’s teammates voted her as a captain, and North Haven’s coaches wholeheartedly agreed with that choice. Elizabeth takes being a captain seriously and always looks for ways that she help her teammates.
“It’s really exciting. I feel like there’s a lot of people I can lead, which is great. Being there to support everyone is super important as a captain,” says Elizabeth. “I’ve gone to a lot of meets where maybe I’m not competing just to try and show my support for my teammates. It helps me as a captain be more in touch with everyone on the team.”
Elizabeth wanted her final season of indoor track to “end with a bang.” She decided to put everything on the line and compete like each race was her last. Before the season, Elizabeth and her fellow captains attended North Haven’s fall conditioning program, where they did the extra work that was necessary to help them succeed.
“We wanted to get a head-start on the season, so we started going in and putting in the work,” Elizabeth says. “We wanted to help ourselves improve, which it definitely did. It really helped me step up my game, become more competitive, and up my game throughout my last season.”
After she graduates from North Haven, Elizabeth is planning on attending either the University of Vermont, the University of Pittsburgh, or Case Western Reserve University in Ohio. She is going to major in nursing with a goal of becoming a registered nurse.
Prior to that, though, Elizabeth still has one more season of outdoor track remaining. Elizabeth has already been named a captain and wants to make her final high school campaign a memorable one.
Coach Celmer says that he’s going to miss working with Elizabeth when her days at North Haven are done.
“Elizabeth is an absolute joy to coach. She is highly respectful of not only the coaches, but her follow athletes and her teammates,” says Celmer. “Elizabeth loves her team. I can’t praise her more for what she has done over these four years.”
While the 55 hurdles are finished in the blink of an eye, Elizabeth’s memories of being a North Haven athlete are going to last a lifetime. Elizabeth says that running track has given her an outlet as a leader, along with a greater appreciation of what it means to compete.
“Being able to run and running with the great athletes I did is such a big honor for me. Getting to compete against all these amazing athletes is really cool,” Elizabeth says. “Running track is something that impacted my life more than I thought it would. It’s going to be a time in my life that no matter how old I am, I’m never going to forget all the memories and people I’ve met and all the great things this sport has brought me.”