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ST. LOUIS – The running community began rumbling last year about an eighth grader and the times she was running. The anticipation for the arrival of Taylor Werner grew over the summer, especially after her 5:00.52 at the Festival of Miles, but few probably expected such an elite performance for her first high school 5k.
The Ste. Genevieve freshman smashed the Forest Park Cross Country Festival girls’ record of 18:00.30 set last year by Eureka’s Hannah Long with a blistering 16:59.30. She also pulled away from Long, a sophomore, over the final half mile. Long ran an equally impressive 17:07.00, and Herculaneum senior Kaitlyn Fischer also broke last year’s record time with a 17:51.50.
The first-race jitters were not evident as Werner paced herself in the lead group with Long and Fischer from the start.
“I wanted to cry (before the race), but I stayed confident, and when they pulled the gun I just burst out of the box,” Werner said. “My coaches kept telling me, ‘You can get her. You can get her.’ I was unsure but trying to be confident.
“I thought I had a pretty good start, and they would surge and I just went with them and pulled it off.”
Werner immediately staked a claim as one of the top runners in the state, if not beyond. The fastest time in the country heading into the weekend was a 17:26.70 posted by Michigan’s Julia Bos.
Werner entered the race targeting a time of 17:30. She was able to ride along with the pace set by Long and Fischer until she felt comfortable enough to surge out into the lead.
“The game plan was just to stay with them, and if I felt they were going too slow to pull through,” Long said. “Hannah really put up a big race, but I had so much adrenaline at the end I wanted to use. I was surprised at how not tired I was.”
Long admitted that starting her kick with 1k left in the race was probably a little premature, and she started to lock up down the final straightaway to the finish line. The last time she remembered being so exhausted after a race was last year’s Foot Locker regional, where she placed 11th.
She also said she feels the pressure to perform after setting such a high bar last year. As the top returning runner in Class 4, Long said she feels the growing expectations of what’s to come later this season. Forest Park sets up as a good primer to establish where she is and where she’s going.
“It’s a good indication,” Long said. “It’s such a big meet it’s like state with a the girls here.”
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