ST. LOUIS – Hannah Long proved all of her earlier season struggles were behind when she led start to finish to claim the Class 4 Sectional 1 cross country meet Saturday at Parkway Central.
Long, a junior at Eureka, set a new course record of 17:59, breaking the mark of 18:03 she posted last year. She looked like the strong runner Missouri has come to expect and did not appear to have any lingering effects from the iron imbalance she battled at the start of the season.
“We diagnosed the problem and it’s pretty easy to get back,” Long said of her elevated iron levels. “I was taking supplements, and the doctor said my body doesn’t process the iron as fast, so I had a storage of iron and it made my blood sugar really heavy so it was hard to bring oxygen throughout my body.
“We didn’t know what was going on. I thought maybe I’m out of shape. I just felt really bad when I was finishing, so it was good to diagnose that.”
Long had a not-too-distant shadow for most of the race, as Cor Jesu senior Jill Whitman was able to keep Long within her sights. Whitman finished a strong second in 18:15, with Parkway West’s Maddy Brown finishing third in 18:51.
Whitman accomplished her first goal of breaking 19 minutes with room to spare, and she said that only adds to the building excitement for the state meet.
“This year on most of the courses my goal was to break 19 because I only broke 19 last year on one course,” Whitman said. “I knew (Long) would be up there like she always is. It was exciting to be able to see her for a while. Usually that doesn’t happen because she’s too far ahead. I knew that as long as I could see her I was running a pretty good time. That definitely pulled me along.”
Whitman qualified for her fourth state meet after originally running cross country as an after-thought. She had planned to play basketball, and now she’s entertaining scholarship offers from Tulsa, Missouri, Indiana and others.
“I love running,” Whitman said. “It was the best decision ever because I just love cross country.”
Long said while she was hopeful for a course PR at Parkway Central, she was more concerned with getting a good race under her belt to prep for the state course.
“I wasn’t really focusing on the time as much in this race,” Long said. “Just feeling good and preparing myself mentally for state, and I think I did that. We’re focusing on the win first, but I also want to get close to that course record this year.
“I’m really nervous already, but it’ll be fun.”
Long won the Class 4 state title last year in 18:06.91. The state record of 17:51 belongs to Eureka’s Merideth Snow from 2005.