But as she made the final turn and started down the final stretch of the 5K course at Kernersville's Beeson Park, Hardin noticed Bishop McGuinness' Carly Kreber just ahead.
"All of a sudden, my body just took over, and I passed her," Hardin said this week. "I kinda surprised myself at the end."
Hardin beat Kreber to the finish line by one second and her runner-up performance, in a time of 19:39, was the individual highlight on a day of team accomplishment for LNC. The Lady Knights won the school's first N.C. High School Athletic Association championship in any sport, totaling 55 points and edging Bishop McGuinness by 10 points.
"It's really great," said Hardin, a junior. "Our team has wanted that state championship for a real long time. As a team, we feel like our work has paid off."
The Lady Knights finished second to Hendersonville last year by a slim, two-point margin, meaning if three Knights had finished ahead of one more runner each, the state title would have been theirs. So, finding a source of motivation was not difficult in the offseason.
"They were definitely disappointed that they were that close," said LNC coach Craig Zamiara.
Hardin said the great thing about winning a championship is sharing it with your teammates. She said the team is close-knit, and that inspires each runner going forward. "We've accomplished so much as a team that we want to do it again," she said.
LNC's Stephanie Zaino joined Hardin on the all-state team (top 10), finishing fifth in a time of 20:06. The rest of the LNC points came from Danielle Clark (14th, 20:48), Lauren Swift (24th, 21:13) and Holly Miller (31st, 21:32).
LNC boys move up
Just like their girls' teammates, the LNC boys finished one spot higher this year in the state team standings.
Third last season, LNC's boys totaled 79 points and took second to N.C. School of Science and Math, which won with 48 points.
LNC's Michael Westbay placed sixth and earned all-state distinction with a time of 16:47.
Chris Hack (11th, 17:01), Matt Panza (21st, 17:30), Bryant Hooker (23rd, 17:34) and Sean Kenney (26th, 17:41) completed LNC's score.
SPC strength
At first glance, given their state finish, it may seem odd that the LNC girls and boys each placed second in the Southern Piedmont 1A/2A Conference Championships last month.
But North Lincoln, which swept the SPC titles and competes at the 2A level, also finished 1-2 in the state championships, with its boys' team winning and its girls' team taking second. That performance came a week after North Lincoln swept the 2A West Regional team titles, just like LNC did at the 1A level. And individually, Lincolnton's Grace Turner won the girls' regional and finished second at states, while North Lincoln's Chris Boyle won the boys' regional and was third in the state meet.
"It shows the depth in our conference," said Zamiara.
