Ewert lowers American Junior record in 10,000-meter racewalk by more than three minutes to secure first top-10 female finish for U.S. in meet history

By Erik Boal, DyeStat Editor

Taylor Ewert might not be the most recognized 16-year old competing at the IAAF World U-20 Championships.

That distinction likely goes to Northeast FL sophomore Briana Williams, the double sprint champion from Jamaica.

But Ewert, a sophomore from Beavercreek OH, made history for her country in a different manner Saturday at Ratina Stadium in Tampere, Finland, lowering her own American Junior record in the 10,000-meter racewalk to 45 minutes, 57.81 seconds to place 10th, the highest all-time finish by a U.S. female in the event at the World U-20 finals.

Mexico’s Alegna Gonzalez captured gold in 44:13.88, followed by Turkey’s Meryem Bekmez in 44:17.69 and Ecuador’s Gladys Morejon in 44:19.40.

“It was amazing,” Ewert said. “Most of my races, I come out and I lead, so just to be able to have other amazing racewalkers to compete against and push myself against is just awesome.”

Ewert, who produced a record-setting effort June 17 of 49:07.52 at the USATF Junior Outdoor Championships in Indiana, stayed with the leaders during the early part of the race Saturday, remaining in fifth place at 6,000 meters in 27:16.29.

But a significant surge by the eventual medalists occurred during the next kilometer and Ewert then found herself in the chase pack, trying to remain in striking distance.

“I think it was a great race and I think I had a pretty steady pace,” Ewert said. “I wasn’t able to respond when they went at the 5K, but I was still able to do a massive PR and that’s what I wanted, top 10 and a PR.”

Ewert produced the second-fastest time by an American this year and No. 35 in the world in the 5,000-meter racewalk by clocking 22:38.16 in April at the Penn Relays. Only 42-time national champion Maria Michta-Coffey, who ranks 15th in the world at 21:48.09, has been faster.

Ewert improved to the No. 2 American this year and 24th in the world at 10,000 following her performance Saturday, with Michta-Coffey ranking 18th globally at 45:45.62.

“I had a good feeling after my Penn Relays 5K that I’d be able to go maybe 47:30, but I didn’t imagine going this fast. I felt really good, so I just went for it,” Ewert said. “I think my running experience helped. When you’re running in a race, you want to be able to work with a pack and not go out too fast and you want to be able to sit and stay in contact with the leaders, so you’re able to surge and stay in contention for the podium. So I think the biggest thing was using my running strategies to carry over into this race to stay focused and stay there throughout and PR.”

Ewert improved to the No. 6 all-time performer in the U.S. for a 10,000 track racewalk, with only Michelle Roll, Teresa Vaill, Debbi Lawrence, Miranda Melville and Michta-Coffey – all national champions during their careers – having gone faster.

Ewert’s top-10 performance Saturday surpassed the 15th-place effort at the World U-20 Championships by Anya-Marie Ruoss in 1994 – when the race was only 5,000 meters – and the 16th-place result by Robyn Stevens in 2000, the first year the distance was increased to 10,000 meters for female athletes.

“That last 3,000, I was trying to stay on pace and trying to keep my spot since I wanted to get top 10 and I was just grinding away that last little bit trying to stay with it and hang on,” Ewert said. “I was just focused on racing for position, which kind of made me forget about how much longer I had to go and had me focusing on the pace to keep me from slowing down, so I think that definitely helped.”