TC Central’s Flynn Earns National Recognition

TRAVERSE CITY – After leading the Traverse City Central girls cross country team to a MHSAA Division 1 state runner-up finish a year ago, junior Julia Flynn is picking up where she left off.

Back in August, Flynn became the first high school girls cross country runner in the country this year to complete a 5K run in under 17 minutes. Flynn accomplished the feat at Benzie Central’s Pete Moss Invitational.

Flynn finished second in Mile Split USA’s poll for the Performer of the Week for Aug. 24-31.

“I definitely trained harder this year, a lot more mileage per week,” Flynn said. “After I raced, it was so nice to see all of my work just pay off and see something that I feel like the time really reflected my fitness and it’s really nice to have one of those races.”

As a sophomore, Flynn finished third as an individual at the 2019 MHSAA Lower Peninsula Division 1 finals.

“She is an elite runner. She’s got all the characteristics of just one of the greatest runners we’re ever going to see come out of our state,” Traverse City Central coach Lisa Taylor said. “She’s also super excited about her teammates, she loves her team, team loves her.

“She works very hard, it’s not just talent, she’s gifted. She works very hard and she deserves everything she’s gotten so far.”

Flynn and the Trojans have full confidence that they’ll achieve their goal of winning a state championship this fall.

“Every year our training it is geared towards winning states, of course,” Flynn said. “It is our full intention to go in and win states. We talk about it all the time, and I think we can really do it this year because we are so close and we are really racing for a team more than we are racing for individuals.”