Abby Faith Cheeseman after her final scholastic race as the winningest runner in Tennessee State History.
A True Distance Runner
When Abby Faith Cheeseman crossed the finish line in San Diego, it was the end of a cross country career that will go down as one to the greatest in Tennessee state history.
Since eighth grade, the future University of Virginia Cavalier has been making headlines, winning the Division II Class A state championship in 2020 and every classification title since. Because of this, she earned the distinction of being the ONLY runner in Tennessee state history to win five individual state championships.
Since 2021, she has qualified for Foot Locker XC Nationals every year (4th in 2022), sat on top of the Tennessee cross country 5K rankings and has won more track state titles than one has fingers to keep count with. All this is to say that while she has excelled at both, her rankings in track really tell us the kind of runner she is -- a true distance runner.
While some runners gravitate toward the shorter distances like the 800m and mile when the trails turn into laps, Cheeseman stands out nationally when the distance on the track is closer to the distance on the course.
2024 Track
Event | National Rank | Time |
5000m | Indoor - 3rd (NBNI Champion)Outdoor - 9th (Outdoor) | 16:19 |
2 Mile | Indoor - 10th | 10:09 |
1 Mile | Indoor - 14th | 4:46 |
800m | No Attempt Indoors |
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Click ^ To View National Rankings
At the next level, she could likely become one heck of a 10,000-meter runner, and when you look at the COROS Training Data, you can see why. Below is a side-by-side comparison of an early season long run and a midseason long run for Cheeseman.
"I think a main marker would probably be my long runs because it was a really big training factor for me to know I was keeping my heart rate similar, but the pace was getting faster and I was able to be more consistent."
This side-by-side is a great illustration of what she means: A 14-second drop in average pace from the early season run to the midseason one, and a three beats per minute drop in heart rate.
While on the surface these numbers are impressive, I think the detailed mile-by-mile breakdown of her Oct. 26 run (below) truly displays what kind of distance motor she has.
Negative split anyone? To put this in perspective, Abby Faith Cheeseman could run six miles at an average of 6:42 and step into a race with the entire state of Tennessee and still place 12th overall. Her final three miles total 17:15, which converts to a 17:51 5K.
Her ability to dial in can also be seen in her racing as well. Below is a snapshot of one of her races from this past fall at a meet called Nooga At Night where she ran 15:59 for three miles.
As the chart illustrates, after the initial spike in heart rate at the start, there is very little fluctuation.
Cheeseman's high school career may be coming to an end but I have a feeling that the next chapter in her running career will be just as, if not more, decorated than now, given the opportunity to race longer and longer distances.
