Interval Session #64 - Taylor Wallace September 4, 2008 Last fall, in her first season running cross country, Henley OR junior Taylor Wallace qualified for Foot Locker Nationals. While her 33rd-place finish in San Diego wasn't quite what she'd hoped for, it was nonetheless a remarkable accomplishment for a young woman who had been a volleyball player only one autumn earlier. Although the name may have been unfamiliar to prep fans on the national level, Wallace was well known within Northwest circles. She'd been tearing up the track in the 4A classification since her freshman year, when she spun the first of several 1500/3000 doubles at the state meet. When she turned her attention to cross country in 2007, the success continued. She racked up a 4A state title, took second at the annual BorderClash battle against Washington's best (first Oregonian), and then secured her trip to Foot Locker Nationals with a seventh place showing at FL West. After leading her high school to a state track title last spring, it appears Wallace faces a major hurdle at the start of her senior cross country campaign. A summer injury will keep her from lacing up the spikes until at least the beginning of October.  But if anyone in Oregon can bounce back from that sort of layoff to defend a state title, it might just be Wallace. DyeStat senior editor Dave Devine heads downstate for a visit with the gifted Henley High harrier.

1) As the summer draws to a close and you head into your senior year of high school, how are things going? Are you excited to be a senior? What has your summer training been like? Did you take a break after USATF Junior Nationals, and then start to build up your mileage again? I am very excited to start my senior year and can't wait till I graduate. I took a couple weeks off after Junior Nationals and then I started to put some miles on. But a couple weeks ago I went to a basketball camp and I partially tore my Achilles tendon. So I had to stop training. I had a cast on it for two weeks, then got a check up on it and the doctor was really positive about it. I have been running in the pool, lifting weights, and doing some physical therapy. I've been walking on it and it feels really good. I'm going to try to run on it on October first and see how it feels. If it doesn't hurt, I'm going to start putting some miles on and try to make it to state. 2) When we spoke after your race at Foot Locker Nationals last December, you were a bit disappointed, but felt like you'd learned a lot from meeting and racing against some of the best girls in the country. What were some of the things you learned? How did that experience affect your own running, and your understanding of what it takes to race at the elite level in high school? Any particularly fond memories from your first trip to San Diego? I learned how to race and to not go out hard. Also I learned how to control my nerves and to not get so nervous before a race and freak myself out. The experience taught me that it takes hard work and a lot of training to compete at a high level like that. I'm glad I got to experience that and meet a whole bunch of really great girls. 3) With a long autumn of racing ahead, will you be doing anything different in 2008 than you did last year, knowing you're shooting for some of the national-level races at the end of the season? Any goals you're comfortable sharing at this point? Well, my goal for this year's cross country season is just to heal fast and work hard to get my Achilles tendon healed so I can try to make it to state and Foot Locker. But for track my goal is to win the 1500/3000 double again, and be the only person who has ever won them both for 4 years in a row. And help my team to another team title; that'd be 3 in 4 years. I'd also like to make the national team in July. 4) Oregon isn't a huge state in terms of population, but there are still six classifications for track and cross country, which means you don't often get a chance to race the most elite girls at the state meets. Do you find that frustrating? Since you often win the 4A races by a pretty big margin, does it fuel a desire for you to go out and throw down a fast time so you can be the fastest in Oregon, regardless of classification? Yes, I do find that frustrating. Everyone always compares you to other people's times when you know that you're better, so the only way to prove you're the best is to run the fastest times. So at state I always try to run the fastest times and try my best. Wanting to have the fastest time in all the classifications makes me run faster and definitely fuels a desire to go out and throw down a fast time. 5) Last fall you were often competing as an individual, but this past spring it was great to see you anchoring your high school's 4x400 to a state title and a state record, while also leading Henley to a 4A team championship. How did the experience of winning with your team compare to some of your individual accomplishments? Was it cool to be sharing that podium with some other girls from Henley? It was great winning a state title with my team. I'm very competitive and I think winning the state title with my team is more important. I mainly wanted to run the 800 and 1500 at state, but I knew that if our team wanted to win a state championship I had to run the 3000 instead of the 800. Winning the 4 x 4 is more exciting to me because I love to go out there with 3 other girls and show everyone how fast we are. Sharing the podium with 3 other girls who are so amazing is very cool. I love it. It's my favorite race. 6) Henley HS is located in Klamath Falls, an area of southern Oregon with a rich history of great high school running. Have you tapped into that history at all, as you've risen to become one of the top girls in the state? Do you get advice from local coaches or train with any other runners nearby? Do you find that Southern Oregon has a particularly supportive community for runners? I've had some great advice from runners that have been very successful and are from Klamath Falls, when I was younger Dan O' Brien gave me some advice. People have sent me copies of articles of when I was in the paper, and I have people come up to me in the grocery store and have asked me how training is going and have told me congratulations for accomplishing so much. Klamath Falls has always been proud of track and field. 7) I know you used to be a volleyball player as recently as your sophomore year in high school. Was it hard to give up volleyball in favor of running cross country, and do you miss it now? What other interests or hobbies to you enjoy when you're not running or preparing for races? Yeah, it was hard at first to give up volleyball, but looking back, I know it was the smartest move to make and one of the best decisions I've made. I know cross country helped me greatly in track. I also found I really enjoyed it, a lot more than I thought I would. When I'm not running, one of my hobbies I love is basketball. I love going out and playing one-on-one with my sister or just screwing around with my family in [games of ] 21. Swimming in the river by our house is a kick. As a family, we're really involved in showing cattle and 4-H. I love to horseback-ride and go fishing with my Dad. Photos by Vic Sailer (top), and Robert Rosenberg (bottom)

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