University of North Carolina Athletics
My Carolina Experience: Lianne Farber
December 10, 2014 | Track & Field
My Carolina Experience: Lianne Farber
By Zoya Johnson, GoHeels.com
“I was involved in a lot of different activities growing up, like sailing and acting, but nothing really clicked as much as running did. I can't even pin point the time when I first started running, because I have always been a runner. My mother is an avid runner, and my two older brothers ran cross country and track all through high school. My Mom would take us all to road races on the weekends, and that was our idea of fun. So, I wouldn't say my other interests led me to become a runner, I just eventually realized that there was nothing else I felt as passionate about.”
These are the words of Lianne Farber, red-shirt senior on Carolina's cross country team, a squad which recently won the Atlantic Coast Conference championship and finished 22nd at the NCAA meet. Though Farber had essentially always been a runner, before college it was something that she did, not to compete but because she simply enjoyed it. She feels it is due to this mindset that she was so driven to compete in college.
Where many athletes face being burned out after years of intense Farber was ready to take the next step competitively when she got to college.
“During my junior year of high school, my Mom and I went on a ton of unofficial visits and met with as many coaches as we could. I can't even remember all of the schools I looked at because they all blended together after a while. Towards the end of the year, however, I knew I wanted to go to a big school that had a reputation for great athletics as well as academics.
“My unofficial visit to UNC was unreal. My mom and I stayed at the Carolina Inn on the night that UNC won the basketball national championship in 2009. The next day I took a tour of campus and the students had such an amazing energy about them. Everyone was still celebrating from the night before and there was cheering and smiling everywhere we went. The cross country was actually in between coaches at the time, so there was no coach for me to talk to which was really disappointing. I knew I really wanted to go here but there wasn't a way for me to be recruited, so I kind of gave up for a while.”
Then, in her senior year when she had been repeatedly told she wasn't good enough by many colleges, Farber was ready to commit to the University of Maryland. She had not heard back from Carolina, but she decided to contact the Tar Heels once more and was invited on an official visit. During that visit the coach felt he saw something in Farber and allowed her to walk onto the team.
“Before my freshman year, everyone warned me how UNC was going to be a very different experience than I had in high school. I wasn't going to be winning races and leading the team right off the bat, if ever. I was expecting to be the slowest girl on the team, and didn't think I would make the travel squad. I just wanted to give it all I had and see what would happen.
“I tried not to put limits on myself and just ran as hard as I could. I was lucky to have some amazing teammates who pushed me and believed in me, and I saw success almost immediately.”
Now in her fifth year as a Tar Heel, Farber has not only earned her keep as part of UNC's cross country team, her hard work and dedication have made her an important piece of the team's success at reclaiming a spot as one the nation's top contenders.
In her experience, Farber has gone from being a last minute addition to the team to becoming one half of what has been called the dynamic duo with Annie LeHardy, Along with LeHardy, Farber and the rest of the women's cross country team have helped put Carolina back in the national spot light by securing a team win at the ACC Championship and a third place finish at the Southeast Regional competition this season as well as the aforementioned NCAA Top 25 finish.
The advertising major and soon to be graduate of the School of Journalism and Mass Communication could have chosen to simply be grateful for the four years she has had with Carolina cross country but Farber chose to stay for a fifth year when she was forced to sit out due to injury.
“Being a part of a championship team is something I really wanted before leaving UNC. Carolina has helped me grow as a person by presenting me with many challenges. I have faced season-ending injuries, taken rigorous classes, and acclimated to coaching changes during my time here, but each experience has made me a stronger person.
“After I decided what I wanted to do as an athlete here, I had to mature a lot and put as much into the sport as I wanted to get out of it. I realized that in order to be a great runner, you have to make a lot of sacrifices, and that realization translates to really anything you want to be great at in life. I'm not sure what my next few years after college will bring me, but UNC has prepared me for whatever lies ahead.”
Players Mentioned
