JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. – The cross country community has grown used to seeing Eureka’s Hannah Long run away with races.
In fact, the state fans are so accustomed to seeing her win that even after she broke the state record Saturday at Oak Hills Golf Center there was no cheering mob or fanfare. Friends and family rushed to scoop up the girls who finished just behind Long and celebrate an all-state performance. Long walked alone around the finish chute for minutes, taking in her new state-record time of 17:46.52 in near-solitude.
Long charged to the front of the Class 4 field at the start of the race and never looked back. She had a plan, and she methodically worked it stride by stride.
“We had a game plan, and I hit all my right splits. I felt really good so I knew it was in my reach,” Long said. “Most of the races, I don’t know if they are coming up on me or where they’re at. So it’s hard (to run alone). Sometimes I can see when the course loops around, but I try not to look behind me.
“At the first mile mark I hit my time and the second mile I hit my time too, so I was like, ‘Yeah, I can do this.’”
Long eclipsed the 2005 record of 17:51.4 set by fellow Eureka runner Merideth Snow. Long said keeping the record in the Eureka family meant a lot.
“That’s a great honor,” Long said. “We talk about Merideth Snow all the time at Eureka, so it’s really cool to break her record. I still haven’t met her yet; I really want to meet her someday. Her pictures are up on the wall, and we talk about her a lot.”
Long’s course record didn’t last long as Ste. Genevieve sophomore Taylor Werner dropped the mark even more with a 17:31.30 in the Class 3 state race about 30 minutes after Long finished her race. Long will maintain the Class 4 record, and as a junior, she will have another attempt to go even faster over the state course hills next year.
Before looking ahead to a senior campaign, Long now turns her attention to the postseason. She had been focused solely on the state meet, but she said she will now begin to prepare for the Foot Locker Midwest Regional in Wisconsin.
“I felt really good on my run, and I had a lot of confidence in myself in this race. I really want to carry that through in the rest of my races,” said Long, who was 10th at Foot Locker Nationals (17:46) last year. “We haven’t even talked about it yet. One step at a time. It definitely makes me more excited for the postseason. I had kind of a rough start this year, and I’m feeling a lot better.”
