Eighth-grader Gianna Rahmer is the Journal's Female Metro Athlete of the Year

Run like a girl.

Did Gianna Rahmer ever do that.

Arguably, she ran as brilliantly as any girl in New Mexico has ever run at the high school level, at least for a single season.

She exploded onto the scene in the fall and won everywhere she went, leaving the tight-knit prep running community shaking their heads following victories that often produced ridiculously lopsided margins of victory on the cross country courses, where she is most at ease. She ran a bunch more in a record-breaking spring on the track, wowing crowds and leaving her New Mexico competition fighting for second-place medals.

She not only had people buzzing about her dazzling times, she already was inspiring thoughts about her potential place in the state’s annals.

“I think she’s going to be the greatest New Mexico athlete,” Eldorado cross country/track and field coach Chokri Dhaouadi said. “If we take care of her.”

The Albuquerque Journal has not named an eighth-grader as its Metro Female Athlete of the Year — until now.

Rahmer, the swift-footed fan favorite from Hoover Middle School with the bright pink bandana — the signature “Run Like a Girl” phrase is emblazoned in black letters on the front, and is the most valued accessory she owns — competed for Eldorado. Even if she didn’t technically attend a high school, she is a supremely deserving choice as the top metro athlete for the 2023-24 school year.

“She loves running, she loves working at the craft of running, she loves doing the little things that make you good,” said Mike Rahmer, Gianna’s father. And her daughter has raised the bar for everyone, especially herself. “Her overwhelming success has definitely created some pressure that didn’t exist before (but) it’s just a nice life lesson that we’ll all have to try and navigate together.”

For her part, Rahmer remains pretty much the same cheery teenager that she was before winning her varsity debut late last summer at the Cleveland High cross country invitational.

“When I stepped up to the line at the first cross country race,” she said, “I definitely did not expect to win. (The whole school year) is definitely not what I thought was going to happen.”

This was a familiar refrain, her wins sometimes surprising even herself.

Rahmer, 14, was a smashing success locally in the fall. She was undefeated in cross country in New Mexico, including the metro area’s highest profile events (Rio Rancho Jamboree, Albuquerque Metro Championships, State Preview among them), and at the state meet became the first girl to ever finish in under 17 minutes.

In a stunning performance, Rahmer won the Class 5A state meet by more than 2 minutes.

“At state, I thought there would be a ton more girls there to challenge me,” she said.

She had knowledgeable observers of the sport blown away. “She’s outrageous,” Cleveland coach Kenny Henry marveled. Longtime Albuquerque Academy coach Adam Kedge said Rahmer was the fastest girl he’d seen in the state in 20 or 30 years.

And Rahmer’s winning wasn’t restricted to New Mexico’s terrain.

A week after state, Rahmer finished first at the Nike Cross Southwest Regional in Phoenix; maybe even more impressively, she placed sixth at the Nike Cross Nationals in Oregon in early December.

“Her times now can send her to any D-1 university in the nation,” Dhaouadi said confidently, adding that he believes Rahmer could one day appear in a Summer Olympics. “I never talk to her about that, because I want her to just have fun.”

This, in fact, is a huge part of what defines Rahmer. She runs with joy, and it fuels her competitive drive.

“I love the feeling of running,” she said. “I love being nervous before a race; and stepping on the start line and being nervous, then the gun goes off and the nerves go away. It’s just so much fun.”

She loves it so much, it sometimes gets her in trouble. Dhaouadi relayed an anecdote about a camp last summer in which the coach asked his runners to put their cell phones away to focus on team bonding.

He caught Rahmer in violation.

“She was watching the world championships under the table,” he said, laughing. “She’s something else.”

What is it about Rahmer that defines the separation between her and the chase pack? Well, there is her natural ability, for sure, but there is also the matter of that lengthy stride which allows her to cover more distance with less movement than her rivals. Rahmer is 5-foot-4, but runs like someone who is 5-10. With a smile, she admits she’s leggy, saying she inherited this physical trait from her mother.

“I guess being naturally talented gets me very far and it definitely sets me ahead,” Rahmer said, “but all of my work and time that I’ve put in, working on my form and strides and strength helps me be even faster.”

Dhaouadi agreed.

“As a coach, you wish for the talented kid,” he said. “But I believe that talent is not what makes you the best. It’s the mindset, being a fighter. It’s very rare to find those kind of athletes. What sets (Gianna) apart from the rest is her mindset.”

With Rahmer’s middle school years at Hoover behind her, she’ll be roaming the halls at Eldorado come August, toting around a reputation that all but precedes her.

The reason she won’t be an obscure freshman is obvious.

“I want nobody to know me, but unfortunately, I’ve kind of ruined that for myself,” she said, smiling. “So I think a few people might know me. That’s OK, I’ll keep my head low.”

A former coach from a rival school, Sal Gonzales of Rio Rancho, said that head already belongs on New Mexico’s Mount Rushmore.

“I think the notoriety … it’s running. It’s not basketball, it’s not football. It’s a very niche notoriety,” Mike Rahmer said. He knows full well his daughter's reach.

But Rahmer handles everything that comes her way smoothly, her coach said.

“She never complains,” Dhaouadi said. “Sometimes I ask her before a workout, ‘How do you feel?’ She always says ‘Good.’ I told her, ‘One time, you have to stop telling me you’re good and you have to tell me how you are feeling.’ ”

She won so much, it would be hard to imagine she didn’t feel great. This was as equally true in the spring as it was in the fall. She posted spectacular winning times in the three distance races at state last month. She broke records in the 800, 1,600 and 3,200 over two marvelous days at UNM. Moreover, Rahmer’s points were huge for the Eagles, who tied Rio Rancho for first place in Class 5A.

None of that, her father said, was what most got his attention during a memorable campaign.

“Nike Regionals was probably the one that blew me away a little bit,” her father said. “I thought she’d run well … that was probably the most a-ha moment.”

He realized, he said, that his daughter belonged with the best in the country. She would later add that impressive sixth-place run at nationals. It was one of only two cross country/track events that Rahmer didn’t win. The other was a 1,600-meter run at the Chandler (Arizona) Rotary meet early in the track season.

Rahmer will be running the 1,600 at an event in Seattle next week, then it’s time for a break, she said. But she’ll be back in August, bandana and all. She never runs without it, and she said she looks like a completely different person once she puts it on. But she knows it is embedded in her identity.

“I do run like a girl,” Rahmer said. “And I’m very proud that I do.”

About Gianna Rahmer

School: Eldorado (attended Hoover Middle School)

Age: 14

Born: Albuquerque

Sports: Cross country/track and field

Parents: Mike Rahmer and Nicole Rushton

Sibling: Isla, 12

Bandana background: Rahmer’s trademark hot pink bandana was inspired by a rival runner when she was younger. That girl wore a pink bandana. “I thought that was the coolest thing ever,” Gianna said.

She asked for a headband, and her grandmother bought her one, the one she is seen wearing whenever she competes. She wears it every race, and that won’t end. “I’ll wear it until I’m in college,” she said. Incidentally, in case you were wondering, Rahmer’s hair is brown. It is usually hidden beneath that bandana during races. And she likes to play with it. “That’s my fidget,” she said sheepishly.

Hobbies: Rahmer likes to read romance novels, and she also enjoys baking. Her speciality? Chocolate chip cookies.

Down the road: Rahmer’s younger sister Isla is also an accomplished runner, but she’s only entering the sixth grade. She won’t be able to compete against big sister until Gianna’s junior season.

Ready for change: Gianna admitted she did not enjoy being in middle school. Not one bit. “I did not like middle school very much,” she said. “It’s just terrible.”

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