Isabella Keller speaks about her effort at the Nike Town XC Twilight Invitational in early October.
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Charleston, IL-
The first ingredient to becoming a great athlete comes at birth: a god-given talent. The second and third ingredients are usually comprised of hard work and determination.
In the case of Isabella Keller, her pre-destination came from her parents, who were standout athletes in their day. The superstar sophomore from Effingham St. Anthony HS had an older brother who was an outstanding swimmer and, of course, her older sister, Anna Sophia Keller, one of the best distance runners in Illinois state history. ASK was a four-time cross country champion in Class A. She also earned All-American honors at Nike Cross Nationals during her senior year.
Bella Keller is well accomplished in her own respect. She earned runner of the year honors, a state title, and All-American accolades. Her personal best three-mile time before entering the Charleston Trojan Invitational was 16:26 at the state meet.
Keller has very big goals coming into the 2024 season. Despite not hogging the spotlight, Keller was content with getting better each time out.
It wasn't until after the
Nike XC Town Twilight Invitational that a fire was lit under Keller's feet. "Isabella realized after seeing those girls [roll out in Terre Haute] that she needed to prepare better at the national level," said her father, Charles Keller. She was unhappy about running a fine 17:15 (5K) to finish fourth overall.
Mr. Keller indicated that Isabella needed to work on a more urgent strategy to reach the next level of elite-status racing.
A week after the Nike meet, Mr. Keller noticed something special brewing in Bella. At the Cumberland Invite, Bella took down her sister's prime record by 24 seconds in 16:31. "I knew Bella was on to something because she was still upset about not running with the top girls in Terre Haute; she wanted to prove herself," stated Mr. Keller.
Bella was not done...
This past weekend, on October 19, it was an above-average temperature day in Charleston for the Trojan Classic. "It was a pretty hot day, and Bella was going to go out fast to simulate how other top girls run the first mile," noted Mr. Keller. "She hit the first mile in 5:04, and I said wow! The course is legit because I measured it several times with a wheel, and it came out to 4835 meters." The final time was 15:39! This is considered the fastest time an Illinois runner on state soil runs. It is the fifth fastest time in the country and the fastest time outside of California's notoriously and ultra-fast- Woodbridge Cross Country Invite.
What does this all mean?
It is hard to tell because the Keller's know everyone will continually ask about setting the official state meet record, which is 15:53.8, set by Judy Pendergast of Naperville North in 2015.
It appears the only things that matter now are defending a state championship, making the national championship, and leaving an impact.
