The University of Arkansas' women's cross country and track and field program, the reigning Division I NCAA indoor and outdoor champions, landed a major coup on Thursday, receiving the commitment of Beavercreek (OH) High School senior Taylor Ewert, a blue-chip distance recruit with Olympic aspirations in the 20K race walk ahead of the 2020 Olympics in Tokyo.
She's No. 10 on MileSplit's Class of 2020 recruits. Arkansas was FloTrack's preseason No. 1 cross country team.
Ewert, an Olympic Trials qualifier following her 1:38.55 effort in the 20K race walk in July, owns nearly every U20 race walking record on file within the USA Track and Field ranks and has qualified in consecutive years to the 2018 IAAF U20 Championships and the 2019 Pan American U20 Championships.
She owns American Junior Outdoor Records in the 3K race walk (13:31.79), 5K race walk (22:28.16) and 10K race walk (45:57.81). And indoors, she's produced American Junior records in the 1,500m, mile and 3K.
But at Arkansas, Ewert won't be race walking -- at least in the collegiate ranks; she'll continue to pursue the discipline independently while in college.
The Razorbacks will welcome an athlete with impressive credentials, including a cross country best of 16:57.90 for 5K and six other sub 17:30 performances from her junior season. She owns PRs of 4:51.25 in the 1,600m, 4:48.01 for the full mile, 6:33.61 for the 2K steeple and 10:17.85 for 3,200m.
She's claimed five Ohio state championships across across the indoor, outdoor and cross country seasons, and has landed two consecutive national titles in the steeple over the past two outdoor seasons.
Ewert's rise in distance running has been steadily moving upward since her sophomore season in 2018, when she won a national title in the 2K steeplechase at New Balance Nationals Outdoor. A day later, she scored a new American Junior Record in the 10K race walk on the track at the USA U20 Championships.
Ewert's work ethic, and driven attitude, is second to none. She's the daughter of Division I steeplechasers -- Brian and Teri -- at Syracuse University and the younger sister of Ben Ewert, a steeplechaser and distance runner at the University of Louisville.
