Photo: Michael Newton
Despite the wet and windy conditions in Terre Haute, Ind., the runners from Missouri made a statement at Sunday’s Nike Cross Nationals Midwest Regional.
The girls from Missouri took three of the top five finishing places to qualify for Nationals in Oregon – Ste. Genevieve sophomore Taylor Werner was first (18:36.20), Festus senior Jamie Kempfer was second (18:42.10) and Cor Jesu senior Jill Whitman was fifth (18:58.20).
Rock Bridge senior Evan Schulte added a boys’ qualifier for Nationals with a fourth-place finish (16:16.70).
Werner took off as soon as she heard the starter’s gun and fought the wind by herself for the entire race.
“I thought I’d be with a pack of girls until the two mile and then make a surge,” said Werner, who was third last year on the LaVern Gibson Championship XC Course. “We just started off, and they were going slower than I wanted to go.
“The wind really got to me at the second mile, and I probably slowed down more than I wanted. I heard someone behind me and sped back up.”
That someone was Kempfer, who had surged out of the chase pack and was closing the gap on Werner. Kempfer had tried to hold back in the pack and let the other girls break the wind for her, but she said no one wanted to face the gusts head on.
“No one wanted to take the lead because no one wanted to block the wind so we kept going slower,” Kempfer said. “So I took off. At the 4k mark, coach (Bryant Wright) was there, and I heard him yell, ‘Remember the plan.’ So I started closing the gap, but once I hit the final stretch with the wind in my face … yeah.
“I felt I really had a lot of extra energy because we took out so slow. Halfway down the homestretch it started hitting me and I hit the wall, and the wind didn’t help.”
Kempfer was running in her first postseason race of her career. She had positioned herself to run cross country her sophomore year, but she suffered two pelvic stress fractures that summer and missed four months. She changed her training approach when she realized “my body can’t handle the mileage,” and she incorporated more cross training and strength workouts to overcome the stress fractures.
She wasn’t pleased with her junior year, but all the signs were there that she was ready to break out as a senior. Now she’s weighing college offers from Missouri and Tulsa, but first she’s going to focus on the Nike Cross Nationals.
“Honestly, I didn’t think I’d be top 10,” Kempfer said. “At first I was confused and thought, ‘Am I not running a smart race?’ Then it started to dawn on me that I have a chance. The last (kilometer) it started to hit me that if I keep going I could be going to Oregon.”
Whitman said that when Werner took it off, it helped pull the chase pack along as they attempted to keep her in sight. Whitman was still fighting for position in the final 1,000 meters, and she passed two more girls to secure her spot at nationals.
“At the 4k mark I was in seventh and started my final kick,” Whitman said. “I saw it was within reach, and it propelled me to finish.
“I haven’t thought about (Nationals) yet. I never would’ve thought it possible. I was just going to go out and run my best and see what happens. It was challenging but exciting.”
Werner got a taste of similar conditions at Nationals last year, so she said she was better prepared for the muddy course. Kempfer said having raced the Arkansas Chile Pepper Festival in October helped her as well.
“(Chile Pepper) was way muddier and colder; it was like running in a swamp,” Kempfer said. “I enjoy running in crappy conditions. It makes it more fun and a different race. It’s not the normal, every-day run you’re used to.”
The Nike Cross Nationals will be held December 7th at the Portland Meadows 5k in Portland, Ore.