MIDDLE POINT — For the Tony Honigford and Sandy Honigford family, running has been a way of life at Lincolnview.
First there was a half-brother, Matt Enderley, early this decade.
Then there was Chelsea Honigford, a 2006 graduate now attending the University of Cincinnati on a running scholarship.
Earlier this spring, Katie Honigford signed to run at Eastern Kentucky University, a Division I school.
Finally, her twin sister Kylie signed a national letter-of-intent Thursday to attend the University of Colorado/Colorado Springs to run for the Division II institution.
“Matt made it to state in the 800 meters in 2000 (the only year he ran in high school; he ran at Ohio University one season as a non-scholarship athlete but then stopped) and Chelsea — in junior high at the time — took after him. The twins — two years younger — took after Chelsea; they kind of motivated each other,” their mother, Sandy Honigford, began. “They all are very competitive but the three girls have always competed on the same side. It will be interesting for me to see how they compete against each other. Chelsea already told me she can’t wait until next year when UC goes against Eastern Kentucky and she’ll run against Katie.”
Attending their meets won’t be as much of a challenge as it will trying to catch Kylie’s.
“They run in Utah, Wyoming and New Mexico for most of their meets. I’ll probably have to plan vacations around them,” she said. “I’m proud of all of them. The three girls especially aren’t afraid to try new things. The twins made no bones that they really wanted to go their separate ways; they’ve always run on the same side. They’re pretty independent, so I don’t think they’ll have a problem not running together in college. In fact, I think when they go against each other, that will motivate each to run harder.”
Kylie felt that going to Colorado would be a perfect fit.
“I was really interested in UC, Akron and Malone. However, I didn’t want to go to a Division I school; I felt it would be too big of an adjustment coming from a small town, so that left UC and Akron out,” she explained of her decision. “I didn’t want to go to Division III; I felt it wouldn’t be enough of a challenge. I liked the program Malone (NAIA) has; I just didn’t like the school. Division II was just right for me.
“I liked everything about the campus, the school, the surroundings at Colorado. Their coach, Mark Misch, only took over last year. I don’t know a lot about the program other than they have two All-American runners. They also run in the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference, which I’ve heard is pretty tough.”
Misch made no bones about the adjustment she has to make.
“He told me I might have to be redshirted so I can get used to the higher altitude. He told me I’d have to come to school in the best shape of my life; it’s going to be a challenge,” she recalled. “When I visited, we went on a hike and it was pretty demanding. They just want me to focus on my senior year of track here but likely I’ll be running the 1,500 meters there — opposed to the 1,600 in high school — and maybe the 800 and 4×8, which I am doing already. I don’t like the 2-mile because there’s just too many laps.
“I’ve never been skiing before; I might have to try it. The fact that this is near where the US Olympic Training Center is didn’t cross my mind.”
The likely business administration major will get $16,000 of scholarship money (academic and athletic) to run.
“I’m looking forward to it. I can’t wait to get to college,” she added.
Lincolnview head man Matt Langdon figures it’s both a happy and a sad day for him.
“Positively, you feel great for Katie and Kylie. We’ve always encouraged the kids to work at it and see what they can do; it’s great for them to get the change to run at the next level and get a degree,” he began. “Negatively, we’re going to miss them. They’ve been great runners for four years. They’ve set a high standard and that motivates the younger kids to work a bit harder; you can see it in our practices.
“There’s a lot of pride that we have because of these two.”