By STEVE MAZZONE

Sports writer

LINCOLN --- Growing up in Lincoln, the competition didn’t matter for Liz and Sam Carlson. Whether it was board games, basketball or their favorite, home run derby, the sister-brother tandem always knew there would be a battle.
Like typical siblings, there would be no time to rest.
“We were very competitive,“ said Liz. “It didn’t matter. We would just go in the backyard and any type of game we’d play it would just be all out.”
It’s a little different for Liz Carlson and her younger brother these days. There’s still probably times when they want to beat the pulp out of each other in something as simple as a game of cards, but lately it’s more a team effort. A team as in coach and athlete.
The elder Carlson, a former all-state track and cross-country star at Lincoln High, has returned to her alma mater this spring as a middle/long distance coach for the Lions this outdoor track season. Carlson, 23, comes back to Lincoln after a successful collegiate career at Stony Brook University in New York where she twice earned all-American East honors in cross country for head coach and onetime Providence College standout Andy Ronan.
She reunites with her mom, girls’ head coach Sue Carlson, since graduating from the high school back in 2003.
“I learned a lot when I was in (college) and paid attention to the workouts. I knew I wanted to coach once I graduated,” Liz Carlson said. “I paid attention to the workouts, saw what worked for certain races. I just kind of pulled from what I learned from coach Ronan and helped these guys out with it. A lot of them have really dropped their times and I think it’s working.”
“All and all, I think it’s worked out her coming here from the college level,” Sue Carlson said. “She’s made huge improvements with our distance kids.”
Of course, one of those distance kids happens to be her 18-year-old brother, Sam, currently one of the top prep 800-meter runners in R.I. With the state meet set to get underway this afternoon at Brown University, the Lincoln senior is ranked sixth among his peers with his best of 1 minute, 58.6 seconds. He achieved that time in finishing second to Westerly’s Tim O’Loughlin (1:58.2) at last weekend’s Bishop Hendricken Invitational.
In his previous three years of running track and cross country, Sam Carlson has been trained primarily by his mom. It changed this season with his older sister on board.
During her high school career, the elder Carlson achieved a rarity in cross country by achieving first-team, all-state honors all four years. She was also second in the 1,500 during the outdoor track season her senior year where she ran a personal best of 4:46
“It’s a lot easier (running for her) because I’m close with her and she’s a lot younger,” Sam Carlson said. “I know she knows what she’s talking about. She went through it not too long ago. I pretty much trust her 100 percent. I listen to her. She expects a lot out of me so during workouts she’ll push me hard.”
Liz Carlson recalls one particular practice where she showed no mercy on her younger brother..
“We had a 400 workout and it was really hot outside and he was dying,” she said. “He kept stopping and saying I’m going to be sick, I’m going to be sick. I just said keep going, keep going.”
Sam Carlson, who will further his track career at the University of Rhode Island in the fall, has reaped the benefits of his sister and his own natural talent. He cracked the two-minute barrier one other time this season and placed third at the Class C Championships on May 23. This is the first season that Carlson has focused most of his attention on the 800. In the 2008 outdoor season, he was primarily a quarter-miler and achieved a personal best of 52 seconds. He also has run 4:10 for the 1,500 and a low 17 minutes for a five-kilometer cross-country race.
With his combination of speed and endurance, it seemed only natural to turn the younger Carlson to the half-mile distance.
“I figured he could be a very good 800 runner because he has the speed, but he also runs cross-country so he also has the endurance,” Liz Carlson said. “We planned on trying him in both but it just so happened that the 800 went better for him than the 1,500 so we kind of focused on that and just used the 1,500 to help him in his 800 race. I even put him in a 3K once to help him with his endurance.”
For just over two months now, the gifted sister and brother have worked together as one. In addition to the other distance runners on the squad, Liz Carlson also coaches the youngest of the Carlson clan, Alex Carlson. The Lion freshman has shown promise just like his older siblings. He has run the 1,500 in 4:45.
“He’s a little different personality than us,” said Liz Carlson. “He’s competitive, but he doesn’t let things upset him the way that Sam and I do. If I don’t perform well, I really get upset. He kind of takes it in stride and says you know what I’ll do better next time. I definitely think he has potential.”
In coaching her eldest brother, the one part Liz Carlson sometimes has difficulty is the fact that she’s not just the older sister when she’s down at the track.
“It’s kind of difficult to separate coach from sister,” she said. “When I see him racing and I see him do well, I feel very proud as a sister and I kind of forget that I helped him get to that point. But it doesn’t really have to do with me. I just give him the workouts. He does them. He works hard every day. I see the effort he puts out in the races. He deserves everything that he has accomplished. He’s worked for it.”
Based on how her brother has progressed, Liz Carlson feels her brother will be ready when he steps foot on the track for his final state meet.
Realistically, the two sibling are not predicting victory, although it is possible, albeit a long shot. The field also includes top-seed Mark Feigen of East Greenwich and Westerly’s Andrew Springer, who is arguably the greatest distance runner to come out of the state. Springer, a holder of eight state records and a national champion in the mile run during the indoor season, will be competing in four events during the afternoon - the 4x800 relay, the 1,500, the 800 and the 3,000. Just like he did back in the winter, Springer is very capable of winning all four.
“I think (Sam) can get second or third, depending on how the race plays out,” Liz Carlson said. “I think he can go 1:58 low or 1:57 high if he really has a good day. He’s put in the hard work and if he runs a smart race I think he’ll do well.”
Sam Carlson feels he got a mental boost for the race with his performance at the Hendricken meet.
“That gave me some confidence,” he said. “It was really hot that day and I was feeling a little bit tired. I tried to not let that get to my head. I led the entire race until like the last 40 meters when O’Loughlin hunted me down. I really had nothing left to do that in the heat. I definitely think that if I am not leading in the race, I can stick with them and they’ll pull me through to a faster time.”
“This weekend it’s Springer and Feigan and four others that can run under two minutes trailing,” he added. “I want to get right on the back of them and not get boxed in; stick with them the entire race and see what happens.”
The 800 is not the only event that Carlson has a chance at placing high. He’s also tied for fourth statewide in the high jump with a best of 5 feet, 10 inches. Roger’s Steve Perry has the top leap with a height of 6-2.
“I’m not depending on the high jump,” he said. “It would be nice if I got a medal, but  I m mainly focusing on the 800.”

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Track isn’t the only sport that Liz Carlson has coached her brother. In the winter, she was an assistant coach for the school’s swim team, another sport where the two siblings have excelled. Liz was a two-time all-stater where she earned first-team honors on the Lions’ 200- and 400-freestyle relay teams her senior year. Sam excelled in the 50 and 100 freestyles. He was third in the 50 and second in the 100 this past state meet and was third and fourth, respectively, in the two events at the New England Championships. Not surprising, both Carlson were nominated as the school’s top athlete…This afternoon’s championship meet could have another Lincoln athlete placing high among the competition. In the girls’ high jump, sophomore Ariana Lefebvre is tied with South Kingstown senior Shannon Meehan and La Salle Academy freshman Dakota Daily-Harris with the No. 1 leap in the state at 5-3. Lefebvre has proven she can perform in the big meets, placing third in the past three championships (indoor and outdoor)…The area’s best chance to take home gold appears to be in the javelin where junior Nick Keeling has the top seeding with his best of 188-9. He’s more than 15 feet further than his closest competitor, teammate John Marc Gelsomino (173-5)…The girls’ shot put looks to be a shoo-in for individual supremacy as well. Central Falls sophomore Aleide Fernandes leads a crop of Blackstone Valley athletes with her toss of 39-1. Woonsocket’s Brittany Lawson is second on the list with a 36-2 effort. The next three athletes have local ties, too. Smithfield teammates Amanda Clark (35-9) and Georgia Elgar (35-3 ½) and Cumberland’s Emily Trudeau (34-1) occupy the third through fifth slots. Lawson is also No. 1 in the hammer with a best of 165-0. Barrington’s Nicole Heini is next at 155-0...East Providence’s Erin Carmone owns the fastest time in the 3,000 with her 10:19 clocking. She’s also fourth in the 1,500 with a time of 4:48.20.…Other area hopefuls with their state rankings and seed times/distances are Smithfield’s Colleen Brague in the javelin (second, 118-11), St. Raphael’s Sharae Hall in the discus (second, 106-6), Keeling in the 100 (second, 10.8) and Woonsocket’s Wesley DeChristofaro in the high jump (second, 6-0) and the triple jump (third, 41-9).