Sterling (May 2, 2017) – Potomac Falls High School senior Deirdre Gilmore has made a commitment to continue her running career at La Salle University beginning in the 2017-2018 academic year.
“It’s nice to know I have another race,” the 5-foot-3 runner said. “I’ve been running competitively for as long as I can remember and it was slightly terrifying to think that that part of my life was coming to an end.”
La Salle is a private, Catholic university located in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Gilmore plans on running both cross country and track for the Division I Explorers.
”La Salle is a unique school,” Gilmore said. “It’s a lot smaller than some of my other options, but the sense of community is unbeatable. I have always loved smaller catholic schools and La Salle is exactly that. They also have motive to serve with various outreach and service programs while offering numerous opportunities to give back.”
While running and community outreach played a major role in Gilmore’s decision to attend La Salle, it was its speech pathology program that solidified her choice.
“I would love to come back to the Loudoun County area when I’m older and help children with speech impediments,” Gilmore said. “My best friend when I was little had a string lisp and her experience has stuck with me. From the professors to the students involved, I’m very exciting to join that part of their community.”
Gilmore has been competitively running since she was six years old and is ready to add her strengths to La Salle’s cross country and track team’s.
“My dad is running’s number one fan. He’s very knowledgeable about the sport and is simply in love with it,” Gilmore said. “When I was little, he started a track team at my small private school with about 40-60 kids from ages 3-14. Even then I was told by my friends and parents on the team that I was going to be running for a long time.”
The La Salle’s women’s cross country team earned Atlantic 10 championships in 2001, 2002, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007 and 2011. Their cross country and track team’s are led by Tom Peterson and assisted by Matt Gosselin.
“The coach of the year to me is a tie between my dad and coach [Dolph] Null, my cross country and track coach at my high school,” Gilmore said. “I think their voices are permanently drilled into my brain. They have raised me through running and have taught me so many lessons on and off the course. I’m so thankful for them and their support, without them I have no idea where I’d be.”
Gilmore runs both cross country and track for Potomac Falls and has been since her freshman year. Gilmore is a distance runner, who has been more recently focused on the 3,200-meter. All four years of her career, the Panthers have made it to the state meet as a team, and Gilmore has been the All-LoCo in cross country in 2015 and 2016 along with VHSL 5A all-state team the past two years.
“All Loudoun County runners are blessed with a plethora of coaches,” Gilmore said. “At every big meet, I can always count on cheers from the Tuscarora staff even though their team is seen as our biggest competitor. I also can count on the coaches at Briar Woods, Broad Run, coach Schmidt from Rock Ridge, of course the Hunters, and many other coaches to cheer me on. Sometimes, I say I’m on team Loudoun County because of all the combined coaching and support I get.”
