Athlete: Courtney Wayment
Year: Senior
School: How to Increase Mileage Running
Location: Kaysville, UT
Mile PR: 4:59.14
3200m PR: 10:40.24
3-K XC PR: 16:58
5K XC PR: 17:25
Key Workout:
• 1- to 2-mile warm-up, stretching, drills, stride-outs
• 5 x 1 mile on bike trail, from 5:40 down to 5:17, with four minutes recovery between runs
• 1- to 2-mile cool-down, stretching, core work, weight training
Less than a year after quitting soccer, moving to another town and attending a new school, Courtney Wayment of Davis High won the Utah state 5A cross-country title on October 21 in Salt Lake City. Giving credit to the Darts’ coach Corbin Talley for his exacting program, Wayment ran the tough Sugar House Park three-mile course in 17:25 to triumph by 26 seconds. She and her Davis team, second in team scoring to American Fork, are now focused on their second season and the Nike Cross Nationals Southwest Regionals, November 21, in Casa Grande, Arizona.
State Champ: Wayment, a 17-year-old senior, broke away on the last of three hills with a little more than a mile to go to capture her first state championship. She called her effort, “total extreme, a push to the limit.” In her previous three cross-country seasons, Wayment placed sixth, fifth and ninth, respectively in the state finals. Her 17:25 equaled the best girls’ time ever at Sugar House Park. But it goes into the record books with the stipulation that the course has undergone minor changes because of park construction.
Stellar Season: Wayment emerged as a national threat on September 26 when she won the Firman Invitational in Boise, Idaho, on the NXN Northwest Regional course, in 17:57 for 5K. In her state regional on October 9, Wayment set a course record of 16:58 for three miles.
State Hills: At Sugar House Park, the three grueling ascents are known as “the State Hills.” “The third hill is always make-or-break,” Wayment said. “My only strategy was to make a move at this point.” Talley called Wayment’s race patient and gutsy. “Courtney’s a fighter who’s learning to push herself,” he said. “She’s added leadership and toughness to our girls team.”
New School: Wayment previously attended Northridge High, about a 15-minute drive from Davis, situated in Kaysville, in northern Utah. As a soccer player and runner, Wayment decided last school year to put all her energies into running. Wayment stopped soccer and her family moved to the Kaysville area so she could run for Davis and coach Talley, whose teams are national powers.
Comfort Level: Wayment says that Talley “knows exactly how to coach me,” that the girls push one another and that the boys’ team “cheers us on.” Wayment couldn’t be happier—even with Talley’s edict that team members should be in bed by 10 p.m. on weekdays and 11 p.m. on weekends. “We’re keeping healthy so our bodies are rested and ready,” Wayment said.
Training Approach: Wayment met her goal of running 40 to 50 miles a week over the summer. Her current mileage is 35 to 45. Her longest single run is 8 to 10 miles at 7:00 to 7:30 pace. The team does long hill repeats in a canyon in the Uinta Mountains, near Wayment’s home in the town of Layton. The girls also do resistance training, emphasizing the upper body and including squats for their legs. Wayment came into Davis with speed from soccer, she said, as well as some endurance from playing 40-minute halves.
Second Season: Because of Utah’s early state meet (the second-earliest in the country after Alaska), teams with national aspirations operate with what amounts to a second season focusing on the late November Foot Locker or NXN regionals. “The mindset on our team is that we’re starting fresh,” Wayment said. “There’s no way to carry a peak for four weeks from state to regionals.” After state, Talley gave the team two days off, then some easy running before getting back into regular training.
Regionals Surprise: While only ninth in her 2014 state meet and lacking a solid base, Wayment, then at Northridge, was a surprise sixth at the 2014 NXN Southwest Regional. The performance qualified her for nationals in Portland, Oregon, where she placed 32nd. “I came out of nowhere to make nationals,” she said. “Up to then I had not had a great season. It was so random.”
National Hopes: For this season, assuming she qualifies, Wayment will be aiming for the top 10 in Portland. “I’ll have a better understanding of how to race,” she said. Wayment hopes to be surrounded by teammates. Davis is one of the few schools in the country that have won NXN podium finishes for both boys and girls teams. Davis boys were third at NXN in 2011, and the girls were third in 2013.
College Plans: Still making her official college visits, Wayment’s short list has five schools all in Utah and Idaho: BYU, Utah State, University of Utah, Boise State and Weber State. Wayment hopes to study physical therapy or go into teaching. Courtney’s parents, Mark and Becky, were both all-American runners at Weber State.
Fabulous Fuel: Like most runners, Wayment loves her pasta, saying, “I could east spaghetti every night for the rest of my life.” But when it comes to a special occasion, like winning state, Wayment goes to her favorite restaurant for a sweet pork burrito. Thoughts of that replenishment, said Wayment, helped propel her over the third hill at Sugar House Park.
Marc Bloom’s high school cross-country rankings have played an influential role in the sport for more than 20 years and led to the creation of many major events, including Nike Cross Nationals and the Great American Cross Country Festival. He published his cross-country journal, Harrier, for more than two decades.
