How It Started
Lafayette's Natalie Barnard has come a long way in a short time. She finished her freshman cross country season with a 5,000-meter best of 21:42.
How It's Going
Now as a senior, and a year after taking 2nd in the Class 5 state race, she's the best runner in the state. Barnard is also shooting for the Class 5 individual state crown, post-season All-Region honors, and a shot to qualify for a national championship meet.
Barnard stamped her claim as the Show-Me State's best and a contender to be among the best in the Midwest by running a solo 17:48.6 to win the 5th Gans Creek Classic's Gold race. The effort gave Barnard a 21.5-second margin of victory and the 3rd-fastest time on the world-class Gans Creek course's 5k layout by a high school female in the course's fifth season.
Barnard got to race in front of her supportive big sister Elissa Barnard (Mizzou), and got a boost from the presence of her former daily training partner. Barnard was hoping a couple of competitors could push her to a new PR, but she was too fast to get any help.
Barnard flew down the start stretch, quickly into the lead, and never looked back. Disappointingly for her, none of her fellow ladies wanted to match her quick pace. Barnard hit the 1,000-meter mark in 3:25, 2.5 seconds ahead of a chase pack of six. That lead grew to 12 seconds at 2,000 meters as she split another 3:25 kilometer. In the middle 1,000 meters, Barnard slowed to a 3:42 split and her lead stayed at 12 seconds over 2nd-place but grew to 24 seconds over 3rd.
Barnard finished with final kilometer splits of 3:38 and 3:36 as she cruised down the homestretch and across the finish, becoming the 5th high school girl to break the 18-minute barrier at Gans Creek.
Harrisonville senior Kayleigh Norris, coming off a win in the Green Division race at the
always-fast Missouri Southern Stampede in 17:43, placed 2nd in 18:10.
Blue Springs senior, Abigail Brackenbury, who was 3rd at Missouri
Southern in 17:52 behind Norris and Cor Jesu's Mary McKenzie, placed 3rd
in 18:29.
On the Gans Creek 5k High School Performance list, Barnard sits only behind two other ladies. That includes St. Teresa's Academy's Amelia Arrieta (now at Villanova) and her amazing 17:24.8 at the Classic in her senior and lone season of high school cross country of 2021. Barnard's former teammate and now Indiana Hoosier Grace Tyson holds the 2nd-fastest mark of 17:42.90 from the 2021 state meet, the first of her two straight state titles.
Ultimately Barnard was satisfied with her performance and victory, but disappointed she didn't get a battle that could have helped her run faster. "I knew I was going to get out hard, (with) a lot of girls coming off (the Missouri) Southern Stampede. I assumed that they wanted to fight it out. But…they didn't come with me, so, I was leading the whole time. It was a tough solo effort. I expected more from today, but I'm happy with it. I'm happy with the win."
Asked about being frustrated that she wasn't challenged more and got help from competitors to push her to a faster mark, she said "Yeah, I'm a little frustrated just because people (racing with you ) help, they push you and I think having Elyse (Wilmes) behind me at Fort Zumwalt (North Twilight), I don't think I would've run 17:34 that day without her." Barnard has high expectations this year, and wants to run very fast, "I think this season I do want to be consistently breaking 18 (minutes)."
Barnard added her next focus is the challenge of running a blazing time at the Nike XC Town Twilight at the LaVern Gibson Championship Course in Terre Haute, In., Saturday, September 30. "I'm excited for next week. I got to fight it out with some people at Nike Twilight, and obviously, I want to place well, want to win, whatever, but those people ultimately will push me to be my best. So, I'm excited for that, even if I don't win or whatever, (I want to) just place well." Barnard knows that placing well there on Saturday will mean she's run a very fast time.
When asked about having any thoughts of giving her
sister Elissa a Lafayette singlet and letting the Mizzou freshman jump
in the race and push her for a while, Natalie said, "I wish. It's been
tough without her. I've got like, five to six more weeks if I do NXR
(Nike Cross Regionals-Midwest Meet). And I think I'm going to do NXR
just because Festival of Miles went so well for me. It was my first
postseason race, after state (postseason race), so I do want to do NXR
but we'll see how long I can last without her."
Barnard said
having Elissa at the meet supporting her was very helpful. "It was nice,
it just got me going. Seeing her helps even if she's not in front of me
or near me (racing) at least she's there."
Barnard
reiterated her enthusiasm for racing next Saturday in Terre Haute and
the chance to run fast. "I'm excited. Before the (college) recruiting
process, I thought Missouri 5k times were fast. Then I look at everyone
else like Illinois etc., and they're running low 17s (minutes), high
16s. So, I'm excited to have the opportunity to race those girls because
they will ultimately make me better. And I'm used to having teammates
better than me, people better than me, and that's what I need to get
better and I'm excited to race (those fast) people.
On her fellow Lafayette senior and the only other
returning top-5 state scorer on the team, Ashley Rinkenberger who placed
12th in 19:16, Barnard said, "I'm excited for her. She's always very
consistent and makes these huge jumps from (the) first race (of the
season) to the last race. I'm excited for her, hopefully breaking 19, I
know she can do it."
Lafayette was in contention for a top-3 team trophy at Gans Creek. At
4,000 meters, they were in 4th, but the last kilometer was a brutal one
as temperatures had warmed up dramatically by the 9:30 a.m. start. Their
4th runner at 4k didn't finish the race and their 3rd runner dropped
more than 150 places in the last kilo, somehow managing to still finish
under distress. The Lancers ultimately tallied 425 points and placed
17th in the field of 35 full teams.
How It's Going 2
This year, former teammates, big sister Elissa is in college running at
Mizzou while Tyson is doing the same at the University of Indiana.
Despite the loss of two great training partners, Natalie has continued
to torch any ground she runs on. She opened her senior campaign with a
17:34 Fort Zumwalt North Twilight win at the well-maintained Slyman
Brothers St. Louis Youth Soccer Association (SLYSA) Complex in St.
Charles. That victory came with a 39-second win over the field and
runner-up Elyse Wilmes.
After missing the Forest Park XC Festival to take the ACT, Barnard
captured the Festus Bowles Invitational in 17:57, which was a 2:04
margin over the field and runner-up Brianna Krueger of St. Charles West,
who was 3rd at Forest Park XC Fest's toughest Green Division race.
How It Started 2
As a freshman in the Fall of 2020, Lafayette's Natalie Barnard ran five races for the Lady Lancers. The first season since the COVID-19 pandemic began looked very different than every other previous season. There were lots of challenges and workarounds. That included McNair Park in St. Charles being the site for a lot of meets outside of neighboring St. Louis County and its tighter restrictions.
That included Eureka hosting what was normally the St. Louis Suburban Conference Championships as the Eureka Invitational, with some conference schools opting out of competition that season. Barnard finished her freshman campaign at the Eureka Invite` on October 17 at McNair. Barnard earned a personal best of 21:42, which placed her 9th in the Girls JV A 5,000-meter race.
Three weeks later Barnard's older sister Elissa raced to a 9th place finish in the Class 5 state race as Lafayette's top-4 placed 2-6-9-24 to lead the Lancers varsity squad to a score of 80 points and that state title by 9 over Parkway West. A year later, Grace Tyson won the individual title in Class 5 at Gans Creek in 17:42 while Elissa Barnard was 22nd. Natalie wasn't far behind, placing 28th and missing a top-25 All-State finish by just 3 places and 7 seconds as Lafayette placed 6th after graduating two senior All-Staters.
How it Went
Last Fall, Lafayette had a historic state meet. Tyson won her second straight title, with Natalie taking 2nd, and Elissa taking 5th. Ashley Rinkenberger and Blair Lobdell placed 28 and 30th as the Lancers scored just 50 points and won their 2nd title in 3 years. After running 18:27 at the Gans Creek Classic in 2022, Natalie clocked 18:24 at state at Gans Creek.
Last Spring, Natalie ran to personal records (PR) of 5:01 and 10:48 before the state track meet. At state, Barnard split a 2:18 and teamed up with sister Elissa, Grace Tyson, and Avery Brown to win a second-straight 4x800 title in 9:09.99 for Lafayette, and the first for Natalie. She followed with a second state title on Day #1 at state. Natalie passed teammate Tyson midway through the 3200 and won in 10:35, to put her in elite company. Tyson finished in 2nd and Elissa 4th to score 23 points in the event for the Lancers.
Barnard followed with a 4th place 1600-meters finish in 5:01 with Tyson taking 2nd and giving Lafayette 13 more points. The team finished with 49 points to earn the 4th-place team trophy.
Barnard is putting herself among the all-time greats in Missouri and can solidify that standing over the next six weeks.
How It Started
Lafayette's Natalie Barnard has come a long way in a short time. She finished her freshman cross country season with a 5,000-meter best of 21:42.
How It's Going
Now as a senior, and a year after taking 2nd in the Class 5 state race, she's the best runner in the state. Barnard is also shooting for the Class 5 individual state crown, post-season All-Region honors, and a shot to qualify for a national championship meet.
Barnard stamped her claim as the Show-Me State's best and a contender to be among the best in the Midwest by running a solo 17:48.6 to win the 5th Gans Creek Classic's Gold race. The effort gave Barnard a 21.5-second margin of victory and the 3rd-fastest time on the world-class Gans Creek course's 5k layout by a high school female in the course's fifth season.