Windermere High School’s new boys cross country coach, Taylor Washington, knows a thing or two about running fast and winning races.
The 26-year-old rookie head coach earned 11 track and field All-American honors as a quarter-mile specialist for Arkansas and was a 2016 Olympic gold medalist as an alternate member of the victorious U.S. 4×400-meter relay team.
And as the new supervisor of a Wolverines team teeming with talent and experience, she is aiming for nothing but first place.
“I’m not settling for anything except winning states,” Washington said after her team’s first meet of 2019. “I don’t think they would have named me the coach if they weren’t expecting us to bring home some hardware. That’s what I’m telling the guys. They know what I expect.”
Windermere’s runners trust in Washington, and they believe in their ability to capture the FHSAA Class 4A state championship in their school’s third year in existence.
The Wolverines were a surprise qualifier for the 2017 state meet with mostly a freshman/sophomore squad and then placed sixth at state last season. Now with all seven of its 2018 state meet runners back plus newcomers, Windermere is one of the teams to beat.
“For two years we’ve been talking about what we’re going to do when all of us are seniors. Now it’s here,” said senior runner Liam Pirie. “All of us have the exact same goal as coach Taylor does.
“We definitely want to win state. We’re going to have a very, very good shot at it. I think if we do everything right we can definitely do it.”
The Wolverines were No. 4 in the Florida Athletic Coaches Association preseason 4A rankings but were recognized as a top contender in a championship chase that figures to include 2018 champ Sarasota, reigning runner-up Tampa Steinbrenner and Newsome of the Tampa area.
Windermere opened the regular season with a dominant showing at the Jim Ryun Invitational in Lakeland. Onix Ortiz, a senior, ran a time of 16 minutes, 59.8 seconds for 5,000 meters to place third in a 44-team race. Pirie was right behind him in fourth at 17:03.8 and junior Noah Siegel was sixth at 17:18. Senior Noah Ellenback (17:35.1) , junior Haile Buck (17:38.7) and junior Mason Taylor (17:55.3) all were inside the top 20.
The Wolverines ran away with the team title, totaling 38 points to win by more than 100 over runner-up Olympia (142).
The team commitment to winning shows in the turnout for 5:15 a.m. practices before school. That, Washington said, ensures that her team will have quality workouts that won’t often be impacted by the stifling heat and thunderstorms of afternoons.
She took over the program when former coach Brian Boylan stepped down but was already a familiar face. Washington has been a track and field assistant for Windermere since the school opened in 2017 and helped out with cross country last fall after retiring from pro track competition.
“We really do have an awesome relationship with coach Taylor,” Pirie said. “She has tons of experience. From the first practice we looked up to her and wanted to run fast to impress her.”
Oviedo, which finished fourth in 4A a year ago, should again be near the top of the large-school class. The Lions can count on senior brothers Kayamo Galloway and Mamush Galloway, junior Samuel Austin and senior Jeff Metz. And Hayden Goodsell, a junior transfer from Lake Howell, debuted in an Oviedo uniform with a personal best time of 17:37.98 at the Early Hawk Invitational.
The Lions were a strong second in the team standings behind Parkview of Georgia.
First XC meet of the season…and we have a winner! Zach Cloud takes an individual FIRST PLACE at the team’s first Cross Country meet of the season! Congrats Zach!! @Osceolaschools @sdocathletics #GoBulldogs pic.twitter.com/wYagcVummv
— St. Cloud Bulldog Athletics (@stcloudathletic) August 25, 2019
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St. Cloud senior Zach Cloud clocked a 15:59.55 time to win by nearly a minute at the season-opening Viera Invitational. A week later, his teammate, Bulldogs senior John-Anthony Hernandez, won the Kowboy XC Invitational hosted by Osceola.
Second-year Tohopekaliga, led by seniors Adolfo Castro and Jerdary Ayala, won the team title in that race over Lake Minneola and Celebration.
Other 4A teams with potential include DeLand, Timber Creek, Dr. Phillips, Olympia, Lake Mary, West Orange, East Ridge and Lake Nona.
Lake Highland Prep, which placed third in the 2A state meet last season, should be competitive alongside Bishop Moore and Montverde Academy in that classification.
Mount Dora Christian was the 1A state titlist in 2017 and 2018 but is rebuilding.
