Laura Thweatt’s always done well with letters. Letters like GPA. DHS. CU.

Now, it’s USA.

Thweatt, the Durango High School honors graduate who went on to a productive NCAA running career and more academic honors at the University of Colorado, made her international racing debut recently as a member of Team USA.

The Durango native – wearing red, white and blue – finished 10th overall as the second American runner in the Bypa Great Cross Country Championships in Edinbourgh, Scotland. In her first race for the United States, Thweatt helped the U.S. senior women finish second in the arduous test in Scotland.

“The race was the hardest thing I’ve ever run,” Thweatt said enthusiastically in a telephone interview with The Durango Herald.

“It’s not like cross country in America. I would say ... ‘epic’ would describe it,” said Thweatt, who graduated with honors from the University of Colorado last year.

The “wet” course featured several big logs across the trail, “two stream crossings,” a tricky uphill with “tons of mud” along with lots of “soggy grass.”

“It was a blast – a total cross country race,” Thweatt said, with adrenalin racing through the cellphone.

More than a cross-country race, she said.

“It was awesome to represent the United States,” said the 23-year-old, who opted to delay graduate school to dash into professional running.

She’s scheduled to race again Saturday at the USA Cross Country National Championships in St. Louis’ historic Forest Park, site of the 2004 Olympics and the 1904 World’s Fair.

And she’s ahead of schedule for a first-year pro runner with the Boulder Track Club. An unexpectedly strong finish at the USA Club Cross Country Championships in Seattle in the fall was encouraging, Thweatt said.

“My goal was to (compete) in a big race before the start of this year. I finished sixth – better than we expected,” she said.

The finish earned Thweatt a Team USA uniform and an invitation to Scotland.

“That was my first international race,” said Thweatt, who had raced against international elite runners at the University of Colorado.

But like the transition from high school to college, the move up from collegiate running to the pro ranks was difficult at first, Thweatt said.

“My first three months with the group, I was a disaster,” Thweatt said of her initial training with the Boulder Track Club and noted coach Lee Troop, a three-time Olympic runner from Australia.

“He told me I was going to go backward before I went forward,” she said. “He was right ... and he was very patient.”

The training program, she said, is similar to CU coach Mark Wetmore’s well-known collegiate program, only harder – more miles, harder workouts.

“I had an unbelievable experience running for CU,” said Thweatt, who ran her way onto the varsity as a junior and senior, winning Big 12 and Mountain Region awards. She helped the Buffalo women finish sixth at the 2010 NCAA Championships.

And she was an Academic All-American.

“My junior and senior years, I remained injury-free,” Thweatt said, crediting Wetmore and the CU staff with encouraging her to pursue running beyond college.

“I’ve definitely been lucky. I had a great program at Durango,” she said, adding that DHS cross country and track gave her an opportunity to run at CU.

“I remember my first (high school) cross-country race – Harrison golf course in Colorado Springs,” Thweatt said with her familiar enthusiasm. “I didn’t know a thing. ... I didn’t know how to run it. I didn’t know how fast I should go. ... It was great,” she said.

“I had coach (Mark) Dutro all four years in high school,” she said of the veteran DHS running coach.

They visited last fall at the CHSAA Cross Country State Championships – as fellow coaches. Thweatt, in addition to working at the Runners’ Roost in Louisville, serves as an assistant cross country coach at Monarch High School in Louisville.

“Our girls won state and went undefeated; I absolutely loved every minute of it,” said Thweatt, who clocked a 15:57 in the 5,000 meters at CU and a 33:49 in the 10K.

“Laura had a passion for running, a passion you don’t see,” said Dutro, who watched the Durango runner progress from a wide-eyed high school freshman to a two-time regional champion who finished in the top 10 at state nine times.

“She never lacked the passion,” Dutro said. “Plus, she is so coachable. ... She’s so willing to do whatever it takes.”

That approached paid immediate dividends.

“Her sophomore year (in high school), it just clicked,” Dutro said. “She was top 10 (at state) in everything from then on.”

He said it was clear she had talent as a prep runner.

“But she put in the effort along the way ... just like at CU,” Dutro said.

She also has another quality that continues to help her as a runner, the DHS coach said.

“She’s always bounced back well – from adversity, from injuries,” Dutro said. “She’s got the work ethic and the passion to bounce back.”

Thweatt, the daughter of Jean and Steve Thweatt of Durango, said she’ll turn her focus to the track and the 5,000 meters after the cross-country race in Missouri.

She said she’ll shoot for a qualifying time to reach the U.S. Olympic Trials in Eugene, Ore.

Thweatt raced at historic Hayward Field as a collegian, but is even more excited to race there in the Trials if she can qualify.

“The history that stadium has with running. It’s just electrifying to run in a place like that,” said Thweatt, who also is considered a runner to watch at future Olympic Trials.

“I remember when she went off to CU,” Dutro said. “She was excited to become part of the Buffaloes. We were having a good time, laughing, and she said something like, ‘Well, I’ll see you in London (in 2012).’”

“It may not be London in 2012, but ... 2016?” Dutro said with an eye toward the 2016 Olympics in Rio de Janeiro.

“That girl can do anything she wants,” her high school coach said. “Who knows how far she can go with this.”

dstrode@durangoherald.com