LC’s Ren Mallory shifts her focus to track

Growing up in a sports-oriented family, Ren Mallory figured out pretty early in life her path was toward athletics.

“I was a tomboy growing up, so it was more like I was with the guys,” said Mallory. “They made you tough and more used to being in the spotlight.

“I was never really that feminine. I was more of the tomboy and all about sports.”

The Lewis and Clark High School senior has been all about winning at sports, too, leading the Tigers basketball team to the 4A state championship earlier this month.

“It felt good,” Mallory said. “When we won it, it hasn’t even hit me today. That’s the thing.

“It’s just like being on cloud nine and you can never come down. It was a big thing for us.

“It’s always something I can say happened in my senior year. It’s something I’ll always remember.”

Now Mallory is shifting her attention to the track, where she will run the 100 and 200 meter dashes, the 4x100 and 4x200 meter relays, and captain the team as well.

“She’s a go-getter, a leader, with a lot of tenacity,” said Tiger head coach Pat Pfeifer. “She’s a competitor. She just doesn’t like to get beat.

“Because she’s good and outgoing, and tenacious as well, I notice the younger kids are a bit in awe of her. The freshmen have only seen her for a few days because they just got back from basketball.

“We’ve noticed a definite difference in them since she came around. Her overall personality and ability to motivate other people would be her strengths.”

It’s a toughness of spirit Mallory acquired while growing up with three older siblings and a coaching dad.

“My dad’s a big-time coach,” Mallory said of her father, Bernard. “He coached a lot of sports, and all I did was hang around with him, so it kind of grew on me.

“All my brothers played sports, and I was just around it when I was really little. I just kept playing, and I enjoyed it.”

The 5-foot-3 Mallory has made the most of her athletic ability, helping the Tigers track team since she set foot on the grounds of Lewis and Clark.

“She was really, really good as a freshman,” Pfeifer said. “She was a lead-off runner on the 4x100 relay. She gets better, and she gets a little bit better each year.”

Last season, she was a big reason the Tigers were the top-rated 4x200 relay team in the state entering the state meet. Her team fell short at state, though, finishing a disappointing third.

Mallory hopes to rectify that result this spring.

“It gives me more hunger to go out there and get another medal,” Mallory said. “This year we have new girls, and it’s a whole new ballgame. I just believe we can do it.”

“The goals are set by them, not by me,” Pfeifer said. “She being the captain, she’s set the goal.

“Last year they won the GSL championship as a track team. That’s a goal they have again.

“Individually in the things she does, her goals are relay oriented. They placed last year in the 4x100 relay at state, and they led the state the whole year in the 4x200 and then lost out at the state meet and took third.

“Her number one goal is to be a state champion in the relays.”

That focus on team can be traced to Mallory’s strong sense of family.

“They’ve always had an influence, especially my dad, who’s my coach,” said Mallory, who will look at college offers in both basketball and track after her senior year.

“He encouraged me to do sports and do a lot of things. My closest brother to me is my 24-year-old brother Matt. He was at my basketball games. He was at my track meets.

“My mom was there all the time. She was always my get-up person.

“When my dad does something to make me mad, or I get frustrated, she is always right there saying something positive. Family is important to me.”