Week of September 4th-8th, 2007
Jacque Taylor (Casa Grande, Petaluma)


Doug Speck Photo

The opening week for most of the state during the season is always highly anticipated, with some of the state's top veteran runners charging out in fine style.  Commonly run course times and margins of victory for those on top of multi-school fields are scanned, and some results truly stand out, with this past weekend, one of the state's top returnees from the hotbed Sonoma County NCS area had a great start to her season at the Panther Preview Meet.  Last year to finish her frosh year, she ended the as the top ninth grade 3200 runner in the nation in track with her 10:34.39 best for fourth in the State meet.  She opened up her 2007 multi-school harrier season last week with a strong 17:56 in the heat at Spring Lake's 3.05 mile course in Santa Rosa, the #7 soph time ever on the course for tenth graders.  Last year year as a frosh athlete she was 17:19 at the same venue, the #2 All-Time grade mark to eventual National prep runner-up and Stanford star in the sport, Sara Bei.  She will have other chances on the facility this Fall, and how she continues to fare against those local greats as she marches up the list this go-round also, will be anticipated.  She just visited with us a week or two ago, but her overwhelming and quality performance this past weekend could not be ignored, and our weekly DyeStatCal Athlete of the Week is Jacque Taylor.   

DyeStatCal - How did you feel going into the Panther Preview Invitational this past week at Spring Lake last Friday?

Jacque - I felt really good all week and I couldn't wait to run. I've been looking forward to the beginning of the xc season so I was really excited and couldn't wait for the race to start.

DyeStatCal - What kind of a course exactly is Spring Lake and how do you approach it tactics or pace-wise, and what have you learned about the course in the times that you have run it?

Jacque - The course begins with a 300 meter hill, then winds along the hills then down a hill, up a short hill, down a short hill, all along a trail that takes you to the first mile mark. For the next half mile you are on flat trails and bike paths. At the 1.5 mile mark you come to a steep short (50 yards) hill, then flat for 1/4 mile, then down a small hill that takes you to a hill that brings you to the two mile mark. After the 2 mile mark you go down hill and back toward the 1 mile marker, after that you take a left and go up a good size hill for another 300 meter climb. Once you get to the top of the hill you have fast 600 meter down hill finish.

As for tactics I hold back the first 300 meters, then use the down hills to increase my speed and open up the distance between myself and the runner behind me. After holding back on the first up hill I charge the rest. I run my pace on the flat parts of the course. The last 600 meters I use my speed and down hill momentum to get me across the finish line.

DyeStatCal - What is your best time on the Course there and how fast did you think you could run this first time out in 2007?

Jacque - My fastest time on the 3.05 mileSpring Lake course is 17:19. I ran that at the Sonoma County League finals in November. My time at the Panther Invite was 17:56. At this point in the season it is more important to get a good workout at a decent pace. I was on target for what my coach wanted me to run. Also I should have run in my racing flats before the race. They hurt my feet really badly.

DyeStatCal - How did the race go—according to your plan with splits and all, or did anyone else force you to change the way that you ran based upon how they challenged you?

Jacque - The first 300 meters is uphill, I usually hold back, but this race I charged the hill. Then I settled into my pace and motored through the rest of the course.

DyeStatCal - Could you share real basically what you did for your workouts on Sunday, Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday leading up to the Panther Preview race?

Jacque - I didn't run on Sunday. Monday we did some hill repeats. On Tuesdays we did strength training. On Wednesday we did a longer run and on Thursday we had a Slurpee run and got our uniforms.

DyeStatCal - How has the start of school gone, and does your team adjust at all for the heat that all areas of the state seem to be having here early on?

Jacque - Yes, last week was hot. The team ran shorter distances and spent more time working on core strengthening.

DyeStatCal - What are some of your meets coming up that you are looking forward to?

Jacque - Stanford Invite, Castro Valley, Mt Sac and the Footlocker.

Mid-August interview with Jacque

Congratulations and Best of Luck
Doug Speck - DyeStatCal.com

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