JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. – Two girls cornered the market on the girls distance medal championships at the state meet this year. Ste. Genevieve’s Taylor Werner and Eureka’s Hannah Long won gold in every race they ran.
Hannah Long, a sophomore, completed her gold medal haul Saturday with Class 4 state track victories in the 800- and 1,600-meter runs.
Long set out on pace to chase after Megan Thompson’s 1989 record of 4:47.53. Long, who had run a 4:49.95 at the KU Relays this spring, knew she could dip under the 4:50 mark. However, her middle 800 meters were a little off pace at 2:28. Long missed the record despite closing in a last-lap split of 69, winning in a new PR time of 4:49.53.
“Today was a good day to go for the record, so I was definitely trying for that, but I’m happy with the win,” Long said. “That second lap is what killed me. It was a little bit slow. I think it was because I was out there by myself.”
She came back later on Saturday and grabbed her third gold medal with a winning time of 2:11.06. She had company up front for more than half of the race as Howell’s Valeska Halamicek helped her push the pace. Halamicek finished runner-up in 2:12.56, and St. Theresa’s Lane McGuire closed late for third in 2:12.86.
“I definitely felt her on my tail,” Long said. “I was expecting to be challenged by a lot of those girls. The state meet brings the best out of everyone, so you never know what can happen.”
Long, who also anchored the winning 3,200-meter relay on Friday, is unsure if she will return to the 3,200-meter run for the state series next year, but she accomplished her goals for her sophomore season by focusing more on her speed.
“We haven’t talked about next year yet, but I’m definitely going to work on the two mile more next year,” Long said. “This year my big focus was the mile and getting my time down in that.”
Werner started her meet with wins in the 3,200 relay and a Class 3 record in the 3,200-meter run on Friday. Saturday was more of the same as she won the 1,600 in 4:52.52 and the 800 in 2:13.12.
“I was actually getting really teary eyed there for a minute,” Werner said after her final gold medal presentation. “I’ve dreamed about this every since I started running way back in the day. Being able to do that, it’s really emotional.”
Werner, a freshman, became serious about running in the sixth grade, making this distance sweep a culmination of four years of work.
“I was trying to go for the mile record,” Werner said. “It’s been a while since I’ve been able to really go hard in the mile, so being able to get a new PR, I’m pretty excited about that, too.”
Werner started quick in the 1,600 with a first lap 69, but she couldn’t hold the pace by herself. She still dropped five seconds off her previous fastest time this year.