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MARIETTA - Until this year, the only racing Andreina Salas did was in the water as a competitive swimmer.

Salas has now proven that she can prosper on land as well, as the Marietta senior has made a successful debut as a cross country runner.

It took Salas only three races to establish herself as one of the best runners in the county and one of the top contenders for the girls title in Saturday's Cobb County Championships.

In only her second cross country race, Salas finished 16th with a time of 20:26.43 at the Berry Invitational on Sept. 6, then improved on her performance with a second-place finish of 20:15 at the Carrollton Invitational on Sept. 13.

For Salas, cross country is a nice change of pace from swimming, a sport that she has been competing in since the seventh grade.

"I really like it," Salas said. "This is my first year of running - it's something new. I've been swimming since middle school and I was ready to get into another sport."

Marietta coach Jack Coleman said Salas has had a positive impact on the Lady Blue Devils.

"Rarely do first-year senior runners help a team as much as Andreina has." Coleman said. "She has been such a positive influence on the girls team. Andreina is a pleasure to coach due to her attentiveness to detail in workouts and desire to improve as a runner."

Salas was a year-round swimmer who has been one of the key members of the Marietta swim team since she was a freshman, specializing in the 400 and 500-meter freestyle events.

However, Salas decided to stop swimming year-round and only swims during the high school season.

Looking for another sport to do for a change of pace, Salas decided on running.

"I wanted to do something different," Salas said. "I have strong legs, so running seemed to be a good fit."

Salas joined the Marietta track and field team last spring, running in the 1,600- and 3,200-meter runs, but she ran in only one early-season meet before a hip injury cut her season short.

For Salas, her injury provided some valuable lessons.

"I learned the importance of stretching," Salas said. "It's very important to stretch. I also learned the importance of getting good shoes. I never had to wear shoes in swimming, so getting the right shoes was something I had to learn."

Salas prepared for the season during the summer by working out with her Marietta teammates, in some local 5K road races and keeping up her swim training.

After making a successful debut with a second-place finish at a race in Lithia Springs on Sept. 2, Salas finished 16th at Berry against some of the best runners in the state.

Salas said the prospect of winning a T-shirt helped motivate her at Berry.

"They were giving T-shirts to the top 20 finishers and I really wanted a T-shirt," Salas said. "I started about 30th and at the 2-mile mark, I just went for it and I started passing people until I got into the top 20.

Salas followed her strong performance at Berry with her second-place showing at the Carrollton Invitational.

"I just wanted to run a smart race," Salas said. "I started out further back and I worked my up to the front until I was in second."

In her most recent race, Salas came through with another second-place finish Sept. 20 at the Jekyll Island Invitational.

While most first-time cross country runners have trouble dealing with the pain that comes with running long distances, that hasn't been a problem for Salas, who competes in long-distance events as a swimmer.

"You have to deal with pain in swimming the same as you do in running," Salas said. "Having that experience in swimming has helped me a lot in running."

While having emerged as a contender at the county meet as well as the Region 5AAAAA meet later this month, Salas said she is only focused on getting better with each meet.

"I'm not looking too far down the road," Salas said. "I'm taking each meet as they come."

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