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Betsy Pollard started running in the eighth grade when she beat all of the boys in the school mile.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The Western Branch student credits her successes to her dedicated work ethic. She was one of 16 athletes honored as finalists on Dec. 2 at the Virginia Sports Hall of Fame Education Foundation\u2019s 14th annual Student Athlete Achievement Awards ceremony.<\/p>\n
The acknowledgement reflects academic and community success and an impressive performance at her sport.<\/p>\n
Pollard, a senior at Western Branch High School, decided to run competitively in the eighth grade when she attended Isle of Wight Academy.<\/p>\n
\u201cI beat all the boys in the school mile,\u201d she said. \u201cI was like, I think I like this.\u201d<\/p>\n
She said she persuaded the school to set up a cross-country team with the help of her mother Lou Pollard. However, the school lacked a track team. It didn\u2019t stop Betsy Pollard.<\/p>\n
\u201cI ran as a one girl track team,\u201d she said. Her drive to run was so strong her parents moved from Suffolk to Western Branch in 10th grade so she could train under Claude Toukene, the acclaimed former track coach at Western Branch.<\/p>\n
\u201cI felt the need to move was necessary for me to get stronger, faster, and noticed by college coaches,\u201d Pollard said.<\/p>\n
\u201cI can\u2019t thank my parents enough,\u201d she said. \u201cWhen I moved here, I decided I would make myself known. I wanted to get involved in everything. I was going from having a class of 60 people to having a class of about 500 people.”<\/p>\n
Pollard said Toukene, who departed Western Branch in 2018 to take a job at Bryant and Stratton College in Hampton Roads, proved inspirational.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe told me I was as good as anyone out there,\u201d she said. Her best distance is 800 meters. She wanted to run the 4×800-meter relay and got her chance after arriving at Western Branch.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe was all about building better people and building people\u2019s characters so as when they go out into the real world, they are ready for anything,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
The team placed third at the VHSL 6A State Outdoors\u00a0in 2017, and Pollard competed in the New Balance Nationals.<\/p>\n
\u201cMy biggest achievement was this past season,” she said. “I ran a 3:19 (3 minutes, 19 seconds) in the 1,000 indoor race. I dropped to a 3:03.”<\/p>\n
She achieved a personal best at the New Balance Nationals Indoor in March 2018 in New York. She ran in the 4×800 medley relay where she achieved a 2:18 split.<\/p>\n
The application for the Virginia Sports Hall of Fame Education Foundation required students to show academic achievement, community service and sporting prowess.<\/p>\n
Pollard, 17, is the president of her school\u2019s chapter of the National English Honor Society and is a member of the National Honor Society. She is also active in an Interact club, a Rotary Club-style group for young people, and in the Girl Scouts.<\/p>\n
Pollard plans to attend Campbell University in North Carolina after she graduates in 2019. She wants to be a physician\u2019s assistant.<\/p>\n
In total the Virginia Sports Hall of Fame Education Foundation honored 16 students as finalists out of 100 nominations. Of the 16, four students were named Student Athletes of the Year. Two of them were from Virginia Beach, one was from Yorktown and another from Stafford. For more info, visit https:\/\/bit.ly\/2ArEwFf<\/a>.<\/p>\n Bios<\/strong><\/p>\n Full name: Elizabeth Lofton Pollard<\/strong><\/p>\n What neighborhood do you live in? Brittany Woods, Western Branch<\/p>\n Hometown: Suffolk<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n Age: 17<\/p>\n Nickname: Betsy<\/p>\n Pets: Two cats \u2013 Pounce and Bella<\/p>\n Occupation: Student, teaches swimming at the Portsmouth YMCA<\/p>\n Education: Western Branch High School\u00a0<\/p>\n Community service: Interact club, National English Honor Society, Girl Scout<\/p>\n Church affiliation: Methodist<\/p>\n What do you enjoy most about what you do? I love that my team and I are all a family. At the end of the day, we are all in this together.<\/p>\n What is the greatest challenge you face doing what you do? Balancing a high school life with all the other activities I participate in.<\/p>\n What do you love most about the people you work\/volunteer with? We can all relate to what\u2019s going on on the track, we can console each other.\u00a0<\/p>\n Who or what inspires you to do what you do? My parents, Lou and Bill Pollard, and former Western Branch High track coach Claude Toukene<\/p>\n Favorite movie(s): “Mission: Impossible” movies and “Chasing Mavericks”<\/p>\n Pet peeve: People who say they are bored. There\u2019s always something to do.<\/p>\n Hobbies: Reading and writing poetry<\/p>\n First car: 2004 Ford Taurus<\/p>\n Favorite Western Branch spot: The YMCA.\u00a0<\/p>\n Comfort food: Macaroni and cheese<\/p>\n Something you\u2019ve done that others might not expect of you: I have vocal cord dysfunction. Sometimes I will pass out when I\u2019m running. I have to just overcome the fear of passing out.<\/p>\n If you could invite three famous people, living or dead, to dinner, who would they be? Katherine Johnson, the NASA mathematician; Shelby Houlihan, an 800-meter runner; Marie Curie<\/p>\n If you could choose your theme song, what would it be? “Hall of Fame” by the Script<\/p>\n The song you\u2019re most likely to be caught singing along\/dancing to: “Ice, Ice Baby” by Vanilla Ice<\/p>\n The words of wisdom you\u2019d share with someone interested in doing what you do: “Start where you are. Use what you have. Do what you can.”\u00a0\u2014 Arthur Ashe<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n