Ellender’s Yarmush having an impact in college

Almost every local cross country buff knows Hali Yarmush can run.

We saw it first-hand for three-straight years when the former Ellender High School standout posted consecutive top 10 finishes at the Louisiana High School Athletic Association’s cross country championships.

Now graduated from high school, Yarmush is expanding her horizons.

The entire Gulf Coast Athletic Conference is seeing first-hand the local’s talented legs.

Yarmush enrolled at Xavier University of Louisiana following high school and joined the Gold Nuggets’ cross country team.

A handful of meets into her college career, the standout has already made her mark, running some of the fastest times in the school’s history in the 5K race.

“Running-wise, I didn’t expect myself to be like top 30 or top 25 for my races because I took the whole summer off,” she said. “But I’m obviously glad where I’m at right now, because I can only go up from here.”

Yarmush said she had a couple of collegiate options, but ended up at Xavier for a couple of reasons.

The first is academics.

Yarmush is a pre-med biology major and said getting a quality education was “on the top” of her list of priorities.

“Xavier is a great academic school and I’m all about academics,” she said. “So are the coaches here, they always are stressing the importance of academics, so that had a big part in it.”

With the classroom secured, Yarmush made the decision to continue her running career.

Again, Xavier hit the mark.

“Our cross country team has won conference like five years in a row,” she said. “So I was able to sort of mix academics with being able to compete, which is what I wanted.”

It didn’t take long for Yarmush to show that she could hang on the collegiate level.

The standout posted a 26th-place finish (24th among college runners) in her at the Sheraton Loyola Wolfpack Invitational.

She posted a 21-minute, 27-second time in that race.

The former Ellender standout said she wasn’t nervous to be a collegiate runner for the first time, but did make a key rookie mistake in her first race.

“I’d run the course before, so I actually was kind of anxious, because it’s like, ‘I know where I’m going, so this will be no problem for me,'” she said. “But then I realized I didn’t take my inhaler, so my asthma became a problem.”

Less than a week later, Yarmush’s asthma behaved itself and her finish jumped to an 18th-place mark at the Ragin’ Cajuns Invitational, good enough to help Xavier finish second in the six-team field.

The standout then made school history two meets later when she improved her time by a minute and a half, running a 20-minute, 3-second 5K at the 2011 Gulf Coast Stampede.

That time is the ninth fastest in Xavier history for the 5K race.

“That felt good,” Yarmush said. “Me and two of my teammates have actually been breaking records all season, so to set a new one is awesome. That sort of thing just gives you something to look forward to.”

What Xavier can begin to look forward to now is continued success.

Sure, Yarmush has already posted the school’s ninth-fastest 5K.

But that’s not even her personal best in the event, saying she beat her collegiate-best 20-minute, 3-second time when she was at Ellender.

“When I was a sophomore in high school at the state meet, I ran a 19:37,” Yarmush said. “So I know I can do that again. That’s what I’m striving to do, to hit that mark more consistently.”

With more than three years left at the college level, one has no reason but to suspect the runner will make her goal a reality.

As of now, the biggest challenge the runner seems to face is navigating through New Orleans’ confusing streets after a lifetime in simplistic Houma.

“There’s a lot of big buildings, obviously” Yarmush said with a laugh. “The streets are very confusing. I don’t know where I’m going half of the time. I’m always getting lost.”

If she’s able to find her way to the track amidst the confusing New Orleans landscape, one thing seems close to certain, she’ll cross the finish line ahead of most.

“I’m excited to keep going with this,” Yarmush said. “I’m obviously looking forward to try and improve my times and excel a little bit more in my classes. I’m having a good time here and I’m in a good place.”

New Orleans is now in on the Tri-parish’s secret, this kid can run.