LEXINGTON — Dominique Clairmonte celebrated Christmas a few weeks early and sports apparel giant Nike played Santa Claus.
Lexington’s reigning Division II girls cross country state champ, Clairmonte competed at the Nike Cross Nationals in Portland Ore., last weekend. The junior finished 35th in an elite field of 199 runners, covering the sloppy five kilometer course at Glendoveer Golf Course in 18 minutes, 26 seconds.
Nike hosted several special events for the athletes in the days leading up to Saturday’s race. Clairmonte and her fellow competitors were able to tour the company’s sprawling campus near Beaverton, Ore.
“It’s huge and when we walked in they had all the uniforms lined up right in front so everyone could see what they were wearing on race day,” Clairmonte said. “They made it a cool experience for us all.”
There were other perks, too. Athletes had their choice of some of Nike’s newest gear.
“(The Ohio High School Athletic Association) only allows you to keep $200 worth of stuff, so my dad chipped in as an early Christmas present,” Clairmonte said.
There also were symposiums and question-and-answer sessions with Nike Oregon Project athletes Mary Cain, Galen Rupp and Mo Farrah. The Nike Oregon Project, coached by three-time New York City Marathon winner Alberto Salazar, was created in 2001 to promote American long distance running.
“There was always something to do,” Clairmonte said. “They kept us on a pretty busy schedule.”
Clairmonte went through the entire high school season without a loss and was rarely challenged. She won the state title by nearly 10 seconds and qualified for the Nike Cross Nationals by placing fifth out of 262 runners at the midwest regional in Terre Haute, Ind., in mid-November with a time of 17:39.7. She wasn’t sure how to feel about finishing 35th at the national championship meet.
“It was a whole different experience to go out there and have so much competition,” she said. “To have the experience of being pushed is really cool.
“After the race I asked my coach (Denise Benson), ‘Is that good? Did I do well?’ I wasn’t used to not being up there, but I was really pleased with how I did.”
So was Benson.
“This was a great way for Dominique to cap her season,” Benson said. “It was an amazing opportunity and a great experience for her.”
The opportunity to meet other elite runners and swap training tips made it all worthwhile.
“We all were so close in times. To have other athletes that you are running with is really cool,” she said. “It was neat to find out how they train and what they do. It was cool to see how everyone did things a little differently.”
Lexington’s indoor track season doesn’t start until February. Clairmonte is doing her best to take it easy, but admitted she has a hard time sitting still.
“I’m supposed to take this week off and I’m doing a good job,” she said. “It’s very had for me not to be able to run. I start to feel anxiety. I just want to run.”
She can use the down time to respond to the stacks of recruiting letters that have begun to pile up. Clairmonte also is college prospect in track — she finished fifth at state in the 1,600 meter run in 4:55.32 last spring.
“There are a couple colleges that I like, but I haven’t done a lot yet. I wanted to wait until the season was over before I started really looking at colleges,” she said. “It’s a little overwhelming right now because I haven’t sent anything back yet. I have to get on it, but I’ve been so busy with running.”
