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Cincinnati Christian freshman Amanda Roden had never run competitively — or even gone jogging — until two months ago when she made a last-minute decision to join the track and field team.

Roden, a lifelong soccer player, arrived at her first-ever track meet wearing a pair of tattered sneakers, knowing little about the rules and structure of the sport.

All she knew was that she was "kinda fast."

"I just showed up at the first meet, and asked, 'OK, what do I do now?' " Roden said.

Roden discovered two things that day.

No. 1: She needed practice passing the baton.

"I'd never passed the baton before," she said. "I waited too long, because you're supposed to pull the person in, and we had a collision," Roden said. "Now I've learned."

No. 2: She was faster than she thought.

This season, Roden has been posting some of the best times in the area. Her personal record times in the 800-meter run (2:20) and 400 (1:00.9) would rank her second and sixth, respectively, in the Greater Miami Conference, a league made up of Division I schools.

"She's been tearing it up," track and field coach Dan Bragg said. "She's already hit times that should be good enough to get her to states."

Those times may get even faster. She is in the midst of a tapering period in advance of next week's district meet, and she just bought her first pair of track spikes.

"Well, my sneakers had holes in them, and they were way too big," Roden said.

Roden may be new to track and field; but her speed didn't emerge overnight.

"She's been playing soccer since she was 5," her mother, Lynn Starr said. "I knew she was fast, but I didn't know she was this fast."

Roden still considers soccer to be her primary sport; and she currently is playing for the FOSC Dominators club team.

"She's pretty much getting a workout everyday," Starr said. "The coaches have been pretty good about sharing practice time.

"It was the cajoling of her best friend, freshman distance-runner Lindsay Mead, that drew her to the track team.

"I wouldn't be doing track if it wasn't for her," Roden said. "She's been pushing me from the start to do it. ... It's like a cool new discovery. It's a sport I could do."

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