Wiederkehr caps TCC career with run at nationals
By Luke Fay, luke.fay@tcc.fl.edu
LEVELLAND, TX. (May 12, 2021) – Tallahassee Community College's track & field runner Mia Wiederkehr finished 17th in the nation with a time of 2:25.29 in the 800m at the NJCAA Division I Track & Field Championships.
The road to Levelland, Texas, was not easy for Wiederkehr, whose Tuesday flight out of Tallahassee was delayed by three hours, causing her to miss the Dallas connection to Lubbock, Texas, a 45-minute drive from Levelland.
The following morning, she was one of the last passengers allowed on the flight to Lubbock, which arrived at 10 a.m., leaving a mere five hours to get settled and ready to compete in what would be her final race as a Tallahassee Eagle.
Wiederkehr needed to finish in the top nine to advance to the finals. She participated in the first heat of the 800m, a two-lap track race. The race started out at a blistering pace. Kayan Green of Barton County (Kan.) Community College set the first lap pace at 1:01, while the next three runners came across at 1:05. Wiederkehr recorded a 1:08 time in the first 400m, right on pace with how she had mapped out the race with head coach Gary Droze.
"I would say 1:08 was right where I wanted to be the first lap. I did the right thing with the first 400m but I couldn't match their pace," Wiederkehr said. "The way my coach put it was, they made up most of their time the first lap so the gap between us stayed even."
Wiederkehr had hoped that the other runners in the heat would pack race to begin the first lap. This style of racing would help her conserve energy drifting behind the runners in front. Then, in the final 200m the sophomore runner would turn it on.
"Usually in prelims, people try to conserve more energy," Wiederkehr said. "I had the fastest runner in my heat and instead of running more conservatively she just went for it."
Unfortunately for Wiederkehr, the other runners came out too hard for her to match the pace the entire race. She sat alone at fifth place in the heat for much of the race, making it hard for her to chase down the runners who were too far in front. Wiederkehr would finish six seconds behind Shadae Findley of Western Texas College, who secured the last spot in the finals with a time of 2:19.57.
Factoring in the delay in travel, the elevation change, and the stress of a final race, head coach Gary Droze was pleased with Wiederkehr's performance.
"It was about the best we could reasonably expect given the circumstances," Droze said. "It would have been great if she had a breakthrough, but it would have taken an even greater breakthrough given how extremely competitive it was this year, so I'm pleased with how she did.
Coach Droze went on to explain why running the 800m is so tough.
"The 800 is known for impractical pacing. It is one of the rare middle distance races in track where the second lap is almost always much slower than the first lap."
Wiederkehr started running cross country for Tallahassee during the inception of the program in 2016. She became a member of the Eagles' first track and field team in spring of 2019 and qualified for nationals in her first season of outdoor, finishing 15th in the 800m with a time of 2:26.01.
The end to Wiederkehr's career was bittersweet for coach Droze.
"I'm going to miss her on one hand, but on the other hand I'm going to be looking forward to telling future athletes in the program that they have an unstoppable challenge, that they have to make it to nationals five times, which she has done in her career."
Wiederkehr works full-time as a dental hygienist in Tallahassee making it even more impressive to finish as the 17th best 800m runner in the country.
So, as the final results came in after the fourth heat, Wiederkehr looked to coach Droze and exclaimed, "Well, I'm retired, I am glad I finished my career here."
A fitting ending to a trailblazer in Eagle athletics.