Running Through Records

When non-runners think about running eight miles almost every day, images of aching legs, bullets of sweat and pure regret probably come to mind. But for senior Grace Meyer and junior Wyatt Haughton, running doesn’t have that connotation.

Grace and Wyatt are current East record holders for the 5K run in cross country in their gender groups. Wyatt broke the existing record in his category with a time of 15:35, where during the same meet, Grace broke the existing record for her category with a time of 18:05 — the prior record set by herself last year. They have participated in both cross country and track and field since their freshman years of high school, and both have plans to continue running in college, where they’ll hopefully break even more records.

Both broke the school records at this year’s Olathe Twilight XC Classic meet held at Olathe District Activity Center. Wyatt had confidence in beating the previous boys’ school record — which is 16 minutes flat — because he had already tied it at the Shawnee Mission Park course which was much more hilly than the course in Olathe. 

“Going into it, I was like, ‘Ok I am not going to break it easily,’ but I knew there was a pretty good shot,” Wyatt said. 

Grace, on the other hand, had no idea she broke the record when she finished, as it hadn’t been her top priority.

“Someone just told me I broke it, [but] I didn’t really have an idea of what it was before that,” Grace said. 

Both Grace and Wyatt’s parents were extremely excited when they found out they broke the records. For Grace, her mother Sarah Meyer was ecstatic.

“It’s always fun to see your child be competitive and improve over time,” Sarah said.

Wyatt’s father Jeremy Haughton was also excited when he saw Wyatt’s record-breaking time at the meet. Jeremy was confident in Wyatt’s abilities to beat the record due to the fact that he already tied it in the previous race.

“It’s neat to see somebody achieve something like that when you know how much work they have put into it,” Jeremy said.

Since his childhood, Jeremy knew Wyatt had the internal motivation to long-distance run.

“When he was about 7 years old he ended up running five miles with my wife at Franklin Park. From that moment, on we knew Wyatt was the runner of the family,” Jeremy said.

Wyatt’s parents wanted him to try running cross country as an after school activity. In seventh grade, he ran varsity at the first meet, which was the needed motivation to stick to the sport.

Between the build up speed workouts and six-mile uphill runs, Grace and Wyatt attribute their success to their coach’s training plan. Outside of these scheduled workouts, Grace recovers and rests on evenings — Wyatt often doubles up by doing 400-meter night runs.

For Grace and Wyatt, memorizing the race route beforehand is another key to their preparation. Since the routes are a little more than three miles long, knowing how close the finish is and if runners are on pace can make or break the outcome.

“I have been to the meets many times before since I am a senior,” Grace said. “So I have almost memorized most of the routes. It makes you more comfortable knowing where a hill is or how far it is to the finish.” 

Beating the record has boosted the confidence of both runners. For Grace, it showed her what she can accomplish and helped her get closer to her goal of placing top three at state. After achieving that, Grace hopes her record-breaking can earn her a scholarship. 

Wyatt takes each goal pace by pace, always aiming to accomplish a bigger feat than the last one. His current ambition is to beat the state record by his senior year. To accomplish this, he plans to stick with his current training regimen and slowly increase his weekly milage.

Wyatt and Grace both want their school records to last for a little while because it represents their hard work. However, they also hope that one day someone will work hard enough to break those records. 

“I want it to inspire others to run fast times and work for their goals,” Grace said.