In her three years as a runner for the Roswell cross country program, senior Peyton Thomas has come a long, long way.

“She came out for the team late in her sophomore year, we knew she had talent but she didn’t really have much endurance,” said Roswell cross country coach David Evans of Thomas. “We put her in the county meet about a month after joining the team she did well, but there was a point in the race where she was walking.”

“She’d probably be embarrassed about that looking back, but it just shows how far she has come and how much she has progressed.”

In a year’s time, Thomas put in the work, effort and mileage necessary to transform herself into one of the state’s fastest runners — setting a personal record of 18:55 last fall, finishing ninth at the AAAAA state meet, and earning All-State and All-Metro honors.

Earlier this month she kicked off her season with an impressive run at the Covered Bridge Invitational, finishing sixth in a talented field of over 200 runners.

Evans said that run was just the first step in what he expects to be a stellar year.

“She’s tremendous for us now and should have a great year. On a fast course I think she can go under 18 [minutes] and I think she has a shot to finish in the top five at the state meet.”