Miller Place's Guevara twins help Laura Nolan learn how to compete

Laura Nolan hit the deck. The Miller Place freshman was five laps into the 3,000 meters at the Art Mitchell Classic at Suffolk Community College in Brentwood Saturday when she was accidentally tripped by a fellow runner.

"We were all in a close pack, so I heard all [the runners] breathing," said teammate Talia Guevara, who was also running the 3,000. "All of a sudden, I didn't hear any breathing. [I thought], 'Where did everybody go?' "

They went to the ground. But Nolan didn't let that bother her. She popped back up, furrowed her brow, and made up ground.

When the race was done, Nolan had taken third in 10 minutes, 38.07 seconds -- her career best time indoors. Guevara won in 10:28.94. Afterward, Nolan received congratulatory words for her resilience, but those who know her best were hardly surprised at the comeback.

"She's very tough," coach Fran Sullivan said. "When she got up, there was this glare in her eyes. Most kids would be hysterically crying. She got back up and ran her best time."

That's just the kind of day it was for Miller Place. Down in points, but never out.

Talia's twin sister, Tiana, took first in the 1,500, finishing in 4:47.04. Nolan, the Guevara twins and Laura Barreca finished the afternoon by clocking a 9:45.14 in the 4 x 800 relay, the team's best time this season.

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Now in her second varsity campaign, Nolan spends her afternoons learning from the twins, who are two of the top runners on Long Island. "They're the best teammates I could ever have," Nolan said. "They push me hard and teach me how to race."

Those lessons, Sullivan thinks, will be everlasting.

"They're very good at competing with her," he said of the twins' impact on Nolan. "They're great at bringing her along and having her mature as a runner. I think, years from now, she'll look back and see that she's a better runner because of [them]."