SPANISH FORT, Ala. – Watching two older brothers scamper about must have made Corey Lazzari, the youngest of Tim and Kaye Lazzari's boys, even more eager to get up and run after them. And he would, one day, but not soon enough and not without great effort.

Unlike Shane and Brian, Corey was born with a form of dwarfism that left his legs severely shortened. But while those short legs may have diminished his stride, they never restrained his heart nor his love of running.

Now a senior at Spanish Fort High School, Lazzari along with teammates, friends, coaches and faculty are celebrating a milestone achievement.

Corey realized a dream this year at the Baldwin County cross-country meet. After years of training and trying he qualified individually for the 2010 state cross-country championship meet Saturday. An achievement reserved for only the best runners in the state. Now with a major personal goal under his belt, he wants to help his team at the meet.

"I'm excited about qualifying for state," he said. "Really been looking forward to it for a long, long time and now I want to help the team, too."

Qualifying for state at the county meet meant even more because Corey had once watched his brother Shane win the individual county title in the fall of 2005 as a senior at Daphne High.

"Watching Shane, my brother, got me interested," he said. "I thought I would give it a try and I loved it. I just fell in love with it."

Corey had started running in the sixth grade, competing for the first time in the 2005 Spring Fever Chase 2-mile fun run in Fairhope. By then, it was clear that Shane was a major influence on Corey's running and the next fall Corey began competing as a seventh grader for Spanish Fort under coach Chris Schmidt who would later lead the Toros to varsity state titles in cross country and track.

Given that the fast pace required to qualify for an individual spot at the state meet gets faster every year, Lazzari's personal best of 20 minutes, 19 seconds is a major achievement in itself for any runner. But at 4-foot-5-and-one-half inches, Corey's accomplishments are even more remarkable.

"Corey’s stride is about one half or less that the stride of an average runner," his father said. "What is so amazing about Corey’s accomplishments is that he has done all this in spite of his dwarfism and that he also has a learning disability."

His mom said Shane and Brian may have once inspired Corey, but now he inspires them, his teammates and many more.

"Many runners and spectators have commented to Corey how impressed they are with his finishing times, and how he is an inspiration to them," she said. "Corey never gets discouraged and is always putting 100 percent of himself into it. He loves running more than anything and has continually improved race by race."

One of those impressed has been SFHS cross-country coach Shelby Stevens who has known Corey for many years.

"He is the heart and pride of our cross country family," she said. "Corey is loved by everyone on the team, and his courage and toughness is displayed everyday at practice. The Spanish Fort cross country team is a very close group of athletes that cares for, and supports each other. Corey is an inspiration to everyone who has ever seen him run. Some of the athletes that have known Corey his whole life would all agree (that) Corey's greatest attribute is his ability to model: 'Doing your best everyday'."

In the ninth grade Corey's best time was a 24 minute, 47 second 5K (3.1 miles). Earlier this year, he improved by more than four minutes with that personal best of 20:19 at the Jesse Owens Classic near Oakville where the state meet will be Saturday. He now has one more personal goal. "To break 20 minutes. That's my goal," he said.

In spite of his usual upbeat attitude, his dad said it wasn't always easy for Corey to accept the limitations that his height imposed.

Fortunately, one of his favorite subjects: Mathematics, came to the rescue.

"As an encouragement," Tim Lazzari said. "One of Corey’s math teachers, (head SFHS baseball) coach Tommy Walker, has been calculating what Corey’s time would be if he was (taller). Using his formula, if Corey was an average height of 5-foot-9, his 20:19 time would have been 15:35. That’s awesome."

Walker said the conversions started when Corey would get more puzzled than disappointed about his lack of improvement.

"It's just kind of our thing we've been doing," Walker said. "Sometimes Corey just wondered why he wasn't winning when he was trying so hard. If you know Corey, you know he's never satisfied with his times. He's super competitive. He's never really disappointed, so much as, he just wants to do better. So I put this (formula) together that just puts it all in perspective for him. Like today, (McGill-Toolen Relays, Oct. 30) I told him that with the way he ran, he would have won by 52 seconds."

Corey Lazzari said he understands that running is a sport in which you can make your own victory by doing your best.

"It's something that's like I can compete with myself, and a team thing too," he said. "Doing your best is like winning – in a way, but I still want to win."

The Toros qualified as a team Nov. 4 and will line up with St. Paul's and Faith Academy in the 5A Division Saturday. Schmidt, who now coaches at 5A Scottsboro, will also be there.

"When Shelby called me an told me that Corey qualified, I was thrilled to hear it," Schmidt said. "Especially that he did it on his own which is so sweet. That's the icing on the cake. I know that doing that had to inspire the other kids. That's what he is so good at. Corey is so competitive, if he was off by a second, even in practice, he was ticked. And it's good to see an athlete show that passion and that he cares. His stride is only about 13 inches but he always kept going and inspired the others to do the same. Corey Lazzari never gave up. He never quits. I don't think he knows how to give up. May be we'll line up next to each other at the start (Saturday). I'm so happy and so proud of him. He's just amazing."

Brian Lazzari is a Junior at Auburn University in Secondary Math Education. Shane Lazzari is home after a tour of combat duty in Iraq and recently completed his four years with the U.S. Marine Corps.

Starting time for the 5A boys state meet is 11 a.m. Saturday at Jesse Owens Memorial Park.