COUNCIL BLUFFS, Iowa (KMTV) — Saint Albert junior Lili Denton has had a busy school year.
This fall she ran cross country for the first time–won state–while also playing volleyball.
This spring she’s balancing soccer and track, where she’s one of the fastest distance runners in Iowa.
And it’s her love of competition that keeps her going.
- Lili Denton started playing soccer when she was five, later added volleyball and picked up running in seventh grade.
- She ran cross country for the first time in fall 2024, meaning she balances two sports in two separate seasons at St. Albert.
- For Lili, the most fun part of running (and her other sports) is the competition, and she wants to do well for her teammates and coaches who support her each season.
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Lili Denton lives for a runner’s high.
You’re just going and you feel like you could go forever,” Denton said. “Nothing really hurts. You feel unstoppable.”
Her love for the sport is twofold.
“When you’re not doing it competitively, it’s a way to relax,” she said.
But she says the competition is a big part of what makes running fun.
“Just stepping up to the line with the other girls, and going out there and running as fast as you can,” Denton said.
She started playing sports in kindergarten and picked up running in seventh grade when she finished a mile in less than six minutes.
“We knew she was special, and there was a talent there we really wanted to tap into,” St. Albert girls’ track and field coach Theresa Martin said.
This season she ran 1500 meters–a little shorter than a mile– in 4:32.
“Around my sophomore year I started to realize that I could take it somewhere further than just high school,” Denton said.
Off the playing surface…
“She’s quiet,” Martin said. “You wouldn’t think she was a beast on the track.”
“She’s a good leader, and I think she inspires us to do better,” Sophia Denton, Lili’s sister and teammate, said.
When Lili competes, she takes more than self-motivation with her.
“For my teammates, wanting to be the best that I can be, for them and for the team,” she said. “And honestly for my coaches too.”
Whether that’s on the track, on the soccer field or on the volleyball court.
“The dedication she puts in at bettering herself and getting her to the next level, she’s really putting it in 110%,” Martin said. “I want everybody in the state to know who she is. She’s worked hard for this. She’s not just an amazing runner, she’s an amazing person.”
With one more year of high school running left, Lili has her sights set on making state again and eventually running in college.
