FL Midwest Wrap: Huge surprises as Anna Rohrers to the win

Anna Rohrer rolled past the competition and recorded an impressive 16:53 clocking. (Photo by Kane Baker)

One year ago, Anna Rohrer was recovering from a broken foot after a freshman season that included a 19:17 in her only race.

Three months ago, she was starting her sophomore XC season after a spring where she had PR’d at the state track meet with an 11:11.or for 17th in the 3,200 final, and was hoping at some point – as she said Saturday – to run around 18:30.

Saturday, the Mishawaka 10th-grader was crossing the line at the Foot Locker Midwest Championships in Kenosha in an eye-popping 16:54 for 5,000 meters, breaking Claire Durkin’s meet record and extending a season that has seen her rise for a rising local talent to one of the best runners in the country, improving by nearly two-and-half minutes.  She ran faster Saturday in cold (20s), but mostly sunny and only slightly breezy conditions on the old course than Melody Fairchild, Carrie Tollefson, Megan Goethals, and everyone else.

Of course, Rohrer’s stunning and decisive triumph was one of a handful of intriguing storylines that emerged Saturday at the UW-Parkside national course:

  • A “Big Four” showdown that went up in flames as US#7 and 2011 FL MW runner-up Julia Bos withdrew because of injury, #3 and 2011 FL Finals runnerup Erin Finn stumbled in 12th before collapsing, and US#10 Ashley Erba – who developed a great rivalry with Rohrer this fall – struggled home in 65th.
  • Erba’s misfortunate was compounded by the fact that she had already deferred her Nike Cross Nationals qualifying spot after winning that series’ Midwest qualifier Nov. 11.  That leaves the standout without a national meet to run while the girl who nabbed that deferred spot – fellow Indianan Bobbie Burgess – finished ninth here to get her second nationals berth.
  • Where it had appeared that this race could be ruled by seniors, there wound up being four underclassmen who qualified to San Diego, including Missouri super frosh Taylor Werner in second and Colorado soph Jordyn Colter in fourth.
  • Four girls who had already qualified for the NXN Finals earned a chance to make it a nationals double: Werner, Burgess, Minnesota’s Maria Hauger (third) and Illinois’ Courtney Ackerman (fifth).  But only two of the five San Diego returnees from the Midwest made it back: Hauger and Illinois’ Kaylee Flanagan, who rebounded from a disappointing 16th at NXN MW.
  • After several years of tremendous success by Michigan girls in this meet – two titles by Megan Goethals, followed by successive years of four individual finals qualifiers each – the Wolverine State got shut out with Finn’s 12th being the best finish, while Illinois (team champ), Indiana, Missouri, and Colorado notched two berths each.

 

Hear her Rohrer

But there was no story bigger than Rohrer’s performance.  Besides the fact that she sliced seven seconds of a formidable course record, this was huge for two more reasons: First, this dramatic triumph came in Rohrer’s first really big meet, with several experienced stars to battle besides in-state rival Erba; second, she almost didn’t run here at all.

Rohrer’s season, through her state meet, was amazing enough.  She started running and having some success in middle school, then won her first XC race as a freshman in 2011 in 19:17.  But she would suffer a season-ending broken foot not long after and would have to wait until spring to get racing again.  Her 2012 track campaign with the above-mentioned 11:11 for 3,200 at state – a good race for a frosh, but hardly noticed beyond the local level.  But during the summer, Rohrer refined her training and approach significantly.

“My coach (Chris Kowalewski) and I focused on getting stronger, working on dynamics and strengthening the little muscles that often get ignored,” she said.  “We really worked a lot on my running form.”

All of those refinements, and the buildup of a good training base, allowed what was obviously some tremendous natural talent to shine through.  Rohrer broke 18:00 in her first two races in late August and early September, then made national headlines with a 17:14 to upset Erba at the New Prairie Invite September 15.  Erba would avenge the loss a week later at Culver (though Rohrer still ran a strong 17:32), but that was the last time Rohrer has been beaten.

Still, how does an inexperienced sophomore take on the pressure cooker of Foot Locker Midwest and beat all of these veteran national performers?

“I honestly try not to over-think it,” Rohrer said.  “It’s a big race, but it’s still just another race and I was excited to be able to run with a pack of runners, instead of just me and Ashley.”

“We didn’t want to force any particular race plan,” said Coach Kowalewski.  “All I told her is to try and stay with the lead pack.  Her best plan is usually to be prepared for anything ... just run her best and see what happens.  She doesn’t let a lot of things phase her.”

And that’s basically what Rohrer did, keeping with a lead pack that included Finn, Maria Hauger, and 3-4 others, then breaking away just before two miles (10:51) and extending her lead from there.

Now about the champion almost not running here at all: A decision to dial down the racing between the Oct. 27 Indiana state meet and Saturday’s race was intended to give Rohrer a chance to recharge and not overdo it, but it sort of produced the opposite effect. Said Coach K: “It’s a long four weeks between state and this race.  Two weeks ago, I think she was feeling a little burned out and missing running with her teammates.  We talked about not coming out here and I would support whatever her choice was.

“Her workouts had been great, though ... finally, she just said, ‘Well, I’ve come this far’ ... Then yesterday when she got here (to Kenosha) and understood the scope of this, it finally hit her and she really got excited again.”

 

Big Four meltdown

Almost as stunning as the success that Rohrer had were the struggles of the other top runners in the field.  The finish of West Bloomfield (Mich.) senior Erin Finn was the most dramatic and heartbreaking, as she was passed by two runners in the final stretch and finished 12th, collapsing after crossing the line.  She would later receive medical treatment from her physician parents.

Unfortunately, Finn revealed, “a few people in my family were sick on Thanksgiving. It was not until too late that we realized this and tried to get me away from the virus.”  She didn’t feel any symptoms through Friday night, but as race day dawned, she was “feeling extra groggy and heavy. My stomach seemed to be acting up a little as well.”

After a labored warm-up, the gun went off and Finn “immediately knew that something was wrong ... I was already struggling in the first fifty meters.”  She gave it all she had, but said, “My legs wouldn't connect with my mind. My eyes wouldn't focus. My coach told me that he knew something was wrong with my form within the first 1000m as well.  In the final stretch of the race, I pushed as hard as I could.”

Sunday morning, Finn reported feeling “much better,” but lamented how “it's crazy that of all days, I had to be sick yesterday. It is crazy that a four-year dream can end in 17 minutes and 46 seconds. I know that God must have a reason, though. I will keep forging ahead.”

Meanwhile, Julia Bos was found after the race inside the building where awards were given, playing cards with her Grand Rapids Christian teammates.  The teammates had come to Kenosha to run for fun, but Bos knew days before she wouldn’t toe the line.  Her painful realization had come days earlier, when she started having extensive knee pain a few days after state.  “It’s my patella and my tibia, the tendon pulling away,” she explained.  “I had an MRI and I’m supposed to take two weeks off, then cross-train for two weeks.  It’s really not that serious, but it hurts way too bad, even when I’m just jogging.”

Attempts Sunday to get comments from Erba or her coach/father were unsuccessful, but the NXN Midwest and Mid-East champ from Warsaw (Ind.) appeared to be struggling not long after the start as she had faded well behind the lead pack before the mid-way point of the race.  

With what happened to Finn, Bos, and Erba, the top spots were taken primarily by outstanding freshman and sophomores (see more below).  But there were still some senior standouts who had outstanding performances.

Taking on the NXN/Foot Locker Finals double for a second straight year will be Shakopee (Minn.) senior Maria Hauger, who was 24th at NXN Finals and 21st at FL Finals in 2011.  She went into this fall with hopes of qualifying again for both and improving her spots.  She had but one loss this season coming into Kenosha, an early-season defeat at the hands of fellow Minnesota star Clare Flanagan, and had otherwise sailed to another state 2A title and NXN Heartland crown.

Saturday, Hauger quickly moved up near the front, and settled into the lead pack with Rohrer, Finn, and others.  “I felt like I knew the course better this year and I knew I had to get out fast,” she said after her 3rd-place finish (17:07).  “I was better prepared.”

While she harbored hopes of winning and was a little disappointed to have to let Rohrer go when she made her winning move, Hauger was pretty pleased with her place and fast time and can’t wait to try and achieve her goals in Portland and San Diego.  “I would like to get in the top 10, at least, this year!”

Then there were two Illinois stars who earned their San Diego tickets: Courtney Ackerman and Kaylee Flanagan.  Ackerman, a New Trier senior, ran NXN Finals last year with her team then two weeks ago was fourth at NXN Midwest to qualify individually.  Here, she ran an even smarter and steadier race and was rewarded with a super 17:13 for fifth.  Flanagan, who’d had some late-season disappointments, including 16th at NXN Midwest, benefitted from a more conservative start here and looked rock solid all the way in notching eighth in 17:35.  She’ll make her second straight trip to San Diego after taking 10th at FL MW last year.

Two other seniors who shone Saturday to make the Finals: Anna Holdiman, the Iowa 3A champ from Waverly-Shell Rock, took sixth in 17:33; and Melanie Nun of Legacy HS in Colorado, 21st here last year, moved up to 10th with a 17:39.

 

Young guns prevail

Besides Rohrer, two other young, inexperienced, but obviously outstanding and talented harriers in their first Foot Locker Midwest races.

Taylor Werner had shown great abilities in middle school, highlighted by a 5:00.52 mile last June, but few could have predicted how far she would come this fall.  Her upset win over fellow Missouri star (and also a qualifier Saturday to the finals) Hannah Long in early September set the stage for an unbeaten path to a Class 3 state title.  But the Ste. Genevieve standout had little competition most of the year, making her effort at the Nov. 11 NXN meet all the more impressive when she placed third.

The field here was even better, but Werner was more than up to the task.  She, too, was able to get out well and settle into the lead pack and when it came time for the sprint to the finish, she was able to top Hauger for the runner-up spot and run the second best time of her career at 17:06.  

“I was nervous because I knew it would be tough,” Werner said, “But I learned a lot at NXN Midwest after I got kind of unfocused in the middle of the race.  Today, I stayed on the ball.”

The aforementioned Long – the sophomore Missouri Class 4 champ from Eureka – will join Werner in San Diego after taking 7th in 17:33.  She was a near-miss 11th at FL MW in 2011.

Meanwhile, a soph sensation from Cherry Creek, Colorado, was running her first FL MW, as well, but her story was a little different.  Last fall, Jordyn Colter soared to a 4A state title, but then called it a season.  This fall, her intent was to continue beyond state, but that Oct. 27 finals race in Colorado Springs had been a disaster.  

While leading mid-race, Colter simply “passed out,” with her mother noting that during a subsequent visit to a doctor, it was revealed that was suffering from “low electrolytes, dehydration, and low blood pressure.”

“But things were looking a lot better coming into the race today,” said Colter after her outstanding 4th-place finish in 17:08.  “I’ve been eating better and stuff like that.

“I knew coming into the race that I wanted to redeem myself, but I wasn’t sure if I could place this high!”  Only once has Colter faced competition outside of Colorado like this: At the big Stanford Invite in September, where she was a very strong third behind Washington stars Amy-Eloise Neale and Alexa Efraimson.  “I think Stanford helped me prepare for a race like this, but nothing can really compare to this.  I was surprised how fast we went out ... but I’m so glad I could make it!”