Beachwood Buzz Magazine - January 2017 Page 8

8 Beachwood Buzz

January 2017

2 Beachwood Buzz January 2017

June 2016 Beachwood Buzz

"I realized that if

I stuck with it,

I could become great."

- Leah Roter

2016 Ohio State Champion,

5K (3.1 Miles) Cross-Country Event

Leah Roter, a BHS junior who measures

a mere 4'11", possesses a perfect trifecta of
traits that her cross-country coach Jamie
Lader believes led to her to winning the
state championship in the 5K (3.1 miles) race
with a time of 17:55.

"She has the determination, plus the

genetics, and she has consistently trained
hard," Lader explains. He adds that her love
of the sport also contributed to making "the
stars line up."

"She's got it all," he says of his star athlete

who also won first place in every meet she
entered this season, culminating in the
November 5 Ohio High School Athletic
Association Division II victory in Hebron.
One noteworthy element in that final meet
is how the second-place finisher was a solid

foot taller than Leah.

The great match between Roter and

long-distance running, however, comes as
a mystery to her father Eric, an emergency
room doctor and an accomplished cellist. He
reports with a smirk that the only running
going on in the family's history was what
was required to escape pogroms in Russia
and Poland.

"I don't know how she does it," he says

with adulation. He compares this seeming
anomaly to what it might be like to have
a musician in a completely non-musical
family. But coaches have pointed out exactly
what's exceptional about his daughter, in-
cluding her posture and physicality. He says,
"It's like watching a ballet dancer and being
told what makes her great." He also admits

that, similar to a dancer, you can see how
graceful she is when she's running.

These topics, though, are not matters

he pursues with Leah. "I don't want her to
intellectualize running or overthink it."

What Leah can tell you is that she would

much rather dash out for a multi-mile run
than push through a quick, short-distance
trial. She says she's all about endurance.

"I can go long and not feel winded, and

that's what separates me from others," she
explains in a soft-spoken, serious manner.
Her confidence is readily apparent, but so is
her humble nature and generous spirit.

She says she began competing in 8th

grade on the track team and felt she had
potential. "I wasn't the greatest at first, but
I was determined to get better," she states.

Leah Roter Seizes State Cross-Country

Title After Undefeated Season

By June Scharf