Twin sisters thrive in athletics and academics

Date: 7/27/2009

By Rick Sobey

Staff Intern



EAST LONGMEADOW - Training alone for any sport can be very frustrating. An athlete usually wants to train with someone who will push them to their limits. If the competitor trains alone, he or she might not reach their full potential.

Twin sisters Justine and Lauryn Falcone have never faced the problem of training alone, and as a result, they have accomplished great results in athletics. The Falcone sisters competed in cross-country and track during their four years at Somers High School and having a twin as a training partner was very beneficial.

"I think having an identical twin has made all the difference in my training," Lauryn said. "Most teens will say that the reason they fail to work out regularly is because they cannot seem to get motivated. Other people say that they do not like to work out alone or they simply get bored. Well, having a twin eliminated all of these issues. Together, we motivated each other and in turn achieved much athletic success."

Justine could not agree more with her sister. "As a twin, I feel that my sister and I motivate each other to always run our best. When we are in races, we push each other to run our best times. When we are training, we help each other finish difficult workouts."

During competitive events, the girls communicate with each other to make sure both sisters succeed. "In a lot of races, we try to stick together and if one of us falls behind, the other tries to encourage her to keep up," Lauryn said. "Whether one of us yells, 'Come on, keep going. We're identical twins. If I can do it, you can do it,' or even just, 'Suck it up,' we have always been able to push one another and help us succeed."

Even though they are identical twins, they do not have identical running resumes. Lauryn was an all-conference recipient for cross-country during her four years of high school while Justine received all-conference honors during her final three years of cross-country. Also, Lauryn made all state in her junior year whereas Justine barely missed this accomplishment.

Furthermore, the twins have different running styles and different strengths. "Justine dominates on hills and long distance races, whereas I found more success in faster, flatter courses," Lauryn said. "As an example, I was on the track team this past spring and ran the 1600 meter [one mile]. My sister chose instead to compete in numerous half-marathon distance races [13.1 miles] on her own throughout the spring."

In addition to their success on the cross-country course and track, the sisters have performed exceptionally well in the classroom. They recently shared the honor of being co-valedictorians for the class of 2009 at Somers High School, and they are ambitious students.

They will both be attending Rollins College in the fall. In high school, their favorite course was Advanced Placement (AP) biology, so they will be studying biology at Rollins. However, they have not yet thrown out the possibility of majoring in chemistry.

"We would like to be either chemistry or biology majors so that we are best prepared for medical school," Lauryn said. "We are both enthralled by the field of medicine, and have done more than get our feet wet in the field by volunteering hundreds of hours to our local ambulance and also at Hartford Hospital this past summer."

They will have an opportunity to continue their cross-country careers at Rollins. The college coach contacted the twins and he guaranteed spots on the team for both of them. However, Justine thinks that her studies might begin to take over her love for running. "I talked to the coach, and he convinced me that I could run on the team for fun. However, I do not plan on competing in races next year so that I will have enough time for my studies."