GIRLS' CROSS COUNTRY: Liddle and Stewart are fast friends

Oct. 26—NASHVILLE — Kaitlyn Stewart and Savanna Liddle are fast friends. Quite literally.

The Floyd Central junior and senior, who have known each other for as long as they can remember, have led the way for the 10th-ranked Highlanders all season. This Saturday, they'll lead them into the IHSAA State Finals at the LaVern Gibson Championship Cross Country Course in Terre Haute. The girls' race is slated to start at noon.

It's a good bet that Stewart and Liddle, who are often inseparable in workouts and races, will again be two peas in a pod Saturday.

"We are really good friends. We hang out together and we talk about what we're going to do in the races," Stewart said. "We're able to just push each other and encourage each other."

"She's one of my best friends and I love having her as my teammate as well," Liddle added. "(We) push each other in practice and training and our workouts. ... It's really great to just have her alongside me."

The two have been racing alongside each other for some time, whether it be in cross country or track and field from elementary school to high school.

In fact, the girls were almost predestined to be chums. Their fathers (Jeff Liddle and Scott Stewart) were classmates and teammates on the Floyd Central cross country and track & field teams back in the day.

"Our dads were also best friends growing up, so it runs in the fam," Stewart said.

The two families even vacation together in the summertime, when the two girls train together.

"Those two are really special; they have an unbelievable drive," said Jeff Liddle, who is the Floyd Central head coach. "I think all the girls on the team have a drive, but those two have a special drive."

That drive has helped the girls become two of the top runners in the state. Last year, Stewart took 20th, while Liddle finished 50th, at the IHSAA State Finals.

The Highlanders' dynamic duo has picked up where it left off last season.

Stewart finished fifth while Liddle placed 13th at the Central Kentucky Run for the Gold in Elizabethtown, Ky. in mid-August. Later that month, Stewart was second and Liddle eighth in the Tiger Run in Louisville.

In September, Stewart was seventh and Liddle 11th at Brown County's Eagle Classic. Later that month, Stewart took 12th and Liddle 24th in the Valkyrie Invitational in Louisville.

Then this month the two finished first (Stewart) and second (Liddle) in three races — the Hoosier Hills Conference Championships, the Crawford County Sectional and the Crawford County Regional.

"She's had a really great season this year and she's a really great runner, so I think she's going to have a great season next year as well," Liddle said of Stewart. "She's going places. She's doing really good. I'm really happy for her."

At last Saturday's Brown County Semistate, Stewart ran a personal-best 18:03.8 — the second-fastest 5K in program history — to finish fourth while Liddle crossed the line in a PR-tying 18:44.6 to place ninth.

"We were both really proud with how we raced today," Liddle said Saturday. "We were really looking forward, coming into this meet, to get good times and have a great race. It was great weather today and good course conditions. We were really going in positive and ready to race."

"We came in with a strong mindset," Stewart added. "We tried to control ourselves the first mile so that we had a kick for the second and third miles."

This Saturday, both are hoping for Top 25 finishes.

"Our goal is for All-State," Liddle said. "Going in, hopefully we have great conditions and we're ready to race.

"It goes off fast, so I'm not going to be too worried at the mile. ... I'm going to expect it to go out fast, but we're going to stick with our times and then just try to keep passing and feeling good and just pushing our bodies."

"We've got to race smart, run all the tangents and just stay strong," Stewart added.

No matter where they finish, though, Stewart admits Saturday will be a little bittersweet considering it will be her last Floyd Central race with her dear friend.

"It's going to be really sad, yes. But we have postseason races (together), so we'll have a little extra time," Stewart said.

Their friendship, like their running careers, will continue rolling along.