Kristian Young and Lauren Gunn’s relationship, their story, would strike gold in a pitch of Oscar award winning plotlines. Two girls in the same class, born on the same day a year apart, something that makes Gunn feel old, destined to play together at the highest level after once competing against each other.
Between then and now is a story in its own. A lot had to fall into place before the pair would ever play together. Had Lawrence North Girls Basketball Coach Chris Giffin not seen something in the two girls, the same tenacity and competitiveness, perhaps the story would’ve ended with the eighth grade private school championship game in 2016. Before the duo really even knew each other personally, Young’s Park Tudor squad took down Gunn’s St. Richards team, something Gunn’s dad Christopher still doesn’t like to admit. Without that, never would have Lauren Gunn realized that the small, fiery point guard from Park Tudor was so talented, something that made a coincidental meeting the summer before their freshmen years much more intriguing.
“I was here one day before freshman year and she was sitting out in the commons. I was shocked but it was nice to know someone else who had gone to private school and was coming here,” Gunn said. “When we were playing I was just thinking ‘wow, she’s a great point guard’. She’s quick, she’s fast and I actually didn’t know she was coming to LN when we played. But to learn she was coming to LN, I was like ‘wow that’s cool, it’s going to be great to be teammates’.”
From there, the two have gelled. Combining for 33 wins on the basketball court in two years while Gunn went on to winning a sectional title in the 200m her freshman year with Young watching, injured, the sophomore duo has built a relationship that has brought LN an immense amount of success in a short period of time.
“In the beginning when I first met her, we just knew each other through social media and playing together,” Gunn said. “Now we go to school together, we share classes together and talk a lot. We’re on the same team and are good teammates. We have become a lot closer.”
Young has seen the two develop from the beginning. For her, the two have become much more than by passers.
”I’ve known Lauren since middle school but we were just acquaintances, now we have a true friendship,” Young said. “We have the ability to motivate each other.”
Gunn would acknowledge that basketball is her main sport but has used track to develop skills crucial to her athleticism. Gunn joined track in sixth grade to hang out with her friends but quickly found a knack for the 200m, something she calls “her event”.
“For me the 400m is long. I know it’s only a lap but it’s long for me. The 200 is half a lap and only a little bit of a curve so then I can go straight away,” Gunn said. “I prefer the 200, I like individual events better. I’ve run it since sixth grade and it’s kind of like my event.”
Both Gunn and Young have run relays in their track careers, helping LN to first in the 4x400m and second in the 4x200m at the Whiteland Indoor Relays earlier this spring. Gunn was even a part of the 4x400m team that qualified for state last season. There exists a level of communication in relays that Gunn and Young have had no problem with so far.
“You have to know them and how they run and place their body when you handoff [in relays],” Gunn said. “You have to have a lot of communication and talk because sometimes it’s not going to work. You have to figure out what flows between you guys.”
LN Girls Track head coach Hilary Church has been around winning programs before. Church led the Wildcats to State Titles in 2009 and 2011 with runner up finishes in 2007 and 2010. She’s coached the likes of Olympian Ashley Spencer and understands the attitude it takes to win.
“They’re both competitive and they bring that level of competitiveness to our team,” Church said. “They’ve had the chance to jump right into our varsity level which is good for them and for our team.”
The game of basketball has become almost year round according to Gunn. Training for athletes almost never ends. Church sees track as a crucial development to not only the speed but to general fitness levels that help young athletes.
“It helps build a year round fitness and your perspective. So, when they go back to basketball or whatever sport they’re in, they’ve built a work ethic and an aerobic base you may not get in another sport. That fitness carries over and in your year round training,” Church said.
The two have continued to balance both track and basketball together while tackling what Giffin calls a “tough academic workload”. Both consistently find themselves on the honor roll list every term while doing nearly the most that student athletes can do.
“I don’t know how they balance it. Student athletes these days, who participate in multiple sports at this elite level with the competitiveness we have, I don’t know how they do it and balance it with their academics, family,” Giffin said. “I admire and commend them for being able to do it. You do give up a bit of your basketball off season development when you’re participating in another sport in the spring or the fall. They’ve kind of got to do double time and that can be tough.”
While the second year of her varsity track career has only just begun, Gunn has already experienced a high level of success. Gunn was nearly taken away by herself as she paced her way to a sectional title in the 200m in her freshman campaign.
“Honestly. I didn’t think that would happen so I was surprised and really happy. To make it to the last round of regionals with girls like Lynna Irby from Pike, was really nice, because those girls are really talented,” Gunn said.
A sectional title is the first step on a path to an individual state title. Gunn wants a state title before her high school career is over and knows the basketball title “should be theirs for the next two years.” A track state title in her 200m, however, would stretch the limits of her belief in her own ability.
“Going to state would be amazing in and of itself but like being a state champion would be something I couldn’t even imagine doing. If I was to do that, it would make me believe in myself so much more,” Gunn said.
Giffin believes the two take in the moment together. There are two more years to go after this track season ends, but already the duo has seen a lot of success and glory.
“I think they relish the moment. Both young ladies have a lot of self confidence and have expected to have big contributions with basketball and track. I think it comes natural to them,” Giffin said.
It has almost become seemingly impossible to stop the two when they work together. Young often finds Gunn running in transition on the court, with the baton in relays on the track. The sports, the activities, anything they have in common pushes them closer by the minute.
“It has made us closer. It’s something new to us. Going through the trials together and having to pick each other up when we’re down or just helping each other out and cheering each other on through the relays. It’s made us that much closer,” Gunn said. “[In sports], you have to be smart and know your teammates”.
If there’s one thing that teammates and coaches understand, is that the two know each other, they get each other. Young and Gunn also understand that Church’s wish of a top ten finish at state or Giffin’s wish of back to back state titles with his “talented 2020 class”, any chance of that Hollywood finish, is going to start with Young and Gunn leading each other at the front of the pack, doing as “fiery competitors” do.