Ledwith gearing up for a bigger effort in 2009

LOCATED slap-bang in the middle of the American Mid West the city of Terre Haute, Indiana has a population of 60,000 souls and translates as 'high land' in French. It was there, hard by the banks of the Wabash river in late November, that Andrew Ledwith achieved one of the highs of his career so far when he finished third in the All-American National Collegiate Cross-Country Championship finals. Ledwith ran as usual in the maroon and yellow colours of Iona College, New York, where he has studied for the past four years as part of a scholarship. Even to get on the seven-man Iona team for the championships can be considered an achievement. A place on the team is eagerly sought after. To end up as Iona"s top man and in third place overall was a little special. He finished the 10km race behind Kenyan Sammy Chelanga and winner Galen Rupp, a member of the USA long distance team at the Beijing Olympics. This has been a good year for Ledwith with that performance against some high quality opposition along the banks of the Wabash undoubtedly the highlight. It started out when he finished second in the Paul Short run in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania. He was more than happy to make it home for Christmas and take a rest from the hurly-burly of a busy lifestyle that has included flying to events in Europe and the US. He also had to find time for study and get some work experience in a business in picturesque Westchester County, New York State. The young Kildalkey man and Fr Murphy athlete is something of a veteran of the US collegiate scene as this was the fourth successive year he was picked for the Iona team for the national championships. He has been there, done that and now he is preparing to move up to the next level. To climb the next peak. He is due to complete his masters degree in finance at Iona next summer. In normal circumstances his next step would be to join some firm, maybe in Wall Street, and become a foot soldier in the pin-striped army that daily invades the financial sector in the Big Apple. Instead his 'uniform" is more likely to be a tracksuit and singlet for the next year or two at least as he seeks to maximise his talent. And that is what it is about for the quietly-spoken 23-year-old - making the most of his sporting gifts and see where it takes him. It was why, in his late teens, he was prepared to fore-go the comforts of home to pursue an athletic scholarship 3,000 miles away. It is why he has taken part in demanding races all over America, from Connecticut to California. And it is why he is ready to sacrifice the opportunity of a comfortable lifestyle for the less then lucrative slog through the world of semi-professional or professional sport. He has learned a lot at Iona and greatly enjoyed the college scene. Now he feels the time is approaching to take it a step further to see just how far he can progress as a long distance runner. When his time at Iona is over a new world beckons. 'When I leave college I will need to step up again if I want to move on in this sport. I will have to make sacrifices in terms of finance and earning an income,' he told the Meath Chronicle. 'I may need to find suitable places like Colorado for altitude training for a few years, but it will leave me further from home. 'It"s a gamble for a few years to see what happens. If I don"t do it now I may regret it at the end of the day,' he added. A former Irish schools and European junior champion and the winner of the Meath Cross-Country Championships a few times, Ledwith gave some very encouraging performances over the past 12 months. Performances that should give him plenty of encouragement as he seeks to move upwards and onwards. There was the World Cross-Country Championships in Edinburgh last March when he ended up the eighth best placed European and the top Irish performer. At various stages during a hectic year he returned to the Emerald Isle to take part in events. He ran 15.02 and secured runner-up spot in the 5,000m National Athletics League at Tullamore. Even closer to home he won the four-mile road race hosted by South O"Hanlon during the summer. Then there was his selection on the Irish team for the European Cross-Country Championships in Brussels. Ledwith felt that he didn"t do himself justice at that event. He never quite found the rhythm and flow that might have carried him up the field. Still, he did secure a respectable 37th position. One thing Ledwith has learned from his career so far is that peaking at the right time for the right event is what it is all about in athletics. Looking at your schedule at the start of the year, picking out an event and going for it. 'It"s always nice to win of course, but if you are going to have to give too much in some races in order to win you are not going to get the big prize at the end of the day and that"s what we are in it for, it"s the big race that you target, that"s what really counts,' he added. It"s hardly surprising that athletes is part of Ledwith"s DNA. His uncle, Val Ledwith, was a highly accomplished long distance runner. Andrew"s father Frank also wore the Fr Murphy singlet in cross-country events. Their support and advice has proved invaluable to the Iona College student. 'Val holds a lot of interest in athletics which is great. He taught me a lot about the mental side of racing, he"s brilliant that way, a big help. 'My father takes such an interest as well. He would always be looking at what kind of training other athletes would be at and how they were improving and sometimes he would come back with good stuff.' Andew Ledwith"s daily schedule usually contains a whirlwind of training and study and he was happy to take a break from it all over the Christmas with his family back in Frayne. An example of just how hectic it got could be seen in the way he took part in the European Championships in Brussels on a Sunday, flew back to US for his studies before returning to Ireland the following Saturday for the festive season. Now as a new year gets underway Ledwith is looking to take things a step further and see where that leads him. Interesting times for the young man who started out in athletics on the hill of Frayne before moving on to places like Westchester County and Terre Haute, Indiana.