TAMPA, Fla. — Consistency is crucial in sports. That is the mentality that King High School runner Mason LaBlance holds onto.
“A lot of people I know, they might miss a day here a day there, and they might think it won’t make a difference, but in the long run, if you run, train seven days a week, 52 weeks of the year, you’re gonna end up becoming better,” LaBlance said.
He brought that mentality to the pitch, growing up playing soccer. When he got to high school at King in Tampa, he joined the cross country and track teams to help his conditioning for soccer, and he got hooked on the runner’s high.
“My freshman year, we had a full boys team that made it to state, so that’s what kinda got me hooked because it’s a team sport but you each had the individual performances in it. I thought that was really cool, but you don’t really have to rely on the team to have your own individual success, which I liked,” LaBlance said.
LaBlance decided to drop soccer and focused on running cross country in the fall and track in the spring, excelling in the longer-distance events like the 1,600-meter and 3,200-meter dash.
“The 2-mile is more like cross (country), which I like, while the 1-mile is more speed. So they both have their differences, but they both have the same bread and butter. You’re running and you run to win,” LaBlance said.
“The self-improvement trying to better yourself each day, you’re gonna have rough days, but the rough days teach you to make the most out of your scenario, which you can do in anything in life.”
LaBlance experienced that firsthand during his junior year, when an illness during the track season set him back mightily. He still finished the season and made the state meet championship. But he struggled to reach his previous marks, giving him motivation to come back better his senior year.
“Getting thrown off by the illness, it definitely hindered my mindset a little bit. But then I needed to just shake it off, trained through the summer and attacked this cross-country season, and since it’s my last year, I had to make the most of it and it worked out,” LaBlance said.
He crushed it throughout districts and regionals, getting back to the state championship meet last month and was determined to finish what he started. He won the Class 2A state championship in the 1,600-meter dash with a time of 4 minutes, 18 seconds.
“It was surreal honestly, all the ups and downs, all the hard work. The journey is never linear, so to have it all come to fruition, it was crazy. I was celebrating like crazy,” LaBlance said.
His coach did, too.
“I couldn’t stand still. I sprinted from point A to point B up in the stands and then found him and gave him a big hug, which is something I’ve been waiting to do for 24 years of coaching. I’ve had kids on the podium but never had me a state champ,” King track coach Gary Bingham said.
LaBlance’s consistency earn him a scholarship to run at Flagler College in St. Augustine, just a few years after picking up a new sport.
“It doesn’t matter when you start,” LaBlance said. “A lot of people start running in middle school or elementary school. I started my freshman year of high school, and if you just stay consistent, four years can really change your life.”
LaBlance said he made the right choice dropping soccer to focus on running, and he has a state champion’s medal to prove it.