Teagan Walker already is the top distance runner in Ewing High School history. The senior is adding to that legacy this year, and raising interest in the Blue Devils girls program.
“I’m happy that I can accomplish all these things, but I’m graduating this year, and I’m hoping in the future the team will be big enough and there will be other girls who are beating my times,” Walker said. “But it’s kind of cool to think about.”
It doesn’t come as a surprise to many that Walker has blossomed into a standout runner. She is the daughter of current The College of New Jersey assistant cross country coach Mike Walker and former TCNJ assistant coach Karen Walker. She didn’t have to run, but it was in her blood.
“They always told me like they didn’t care what I did, as long as I was active in some way,” said Walker, who has a younger sister and brother. “So I did T-ball and gymnastics for a few years, but I really liked running, so I stuck with that.”
The decision has paid off for Walker, who has continued to make a name for herself and put Ewing distance running – known more for its sprint and jumps success in track and field – on the map. It started early in her career. Walker won the freshman A Division at the Shore Coaches Invitational, a crown in a year when she was getting more serious about the sport despite having a small team.
“It was kind of hard mentally because I was on the (starting) line by myself,” Walker recalled. “But I got through it. It was my freshman year so I was coming out of middle school racing, which is very different than high school racing. So I was kind of just going out there and just running. And I didn’t really know what I was doing.”
Walker made an immediate impact in the area. She was 10th at the Mercer County Championships, sixth at the Central Jersey Group 3 sectionals and 20th in her first trip to the Group 3 state meet. Even though Walker was running well, she was a bit intimidated by the fastest girls and their big teams.
“With more race experience, I’ve also gotten to know those fast girls, I’ve seen them at running camps and I’ve trained with them over the summer and stuff,” Walker said. “So that helped my confidence a bit and just I just know what to do now during the races.”
Walker continued to put up strong performances as a sophomore and junior. In both years, she made the Group 3 state meet. Last year, Walker ran 20:28 at Holmdel in the Group 3 meet, putting her on the edge of earning a wild card entry to the ultimate – the Meet of Champions. It was nerve-wracking trying to wait for the announcement, and when the list of qualifiers was released the cutoff time was just three seconds faster.
“My dad was trying to do all the math and he was like, ‘I don’t think you made it,’ so I kind of already knew,” Walker said. “But it was a bit disappointing, but I just knew I had to gear up for winter track.”
Now that narrow miss is a strong motivator for this fall.
“I think some people can take it and be like I’m just going to give up now, which I completely understand, but just knowing I was that close, that I’m up there, and if I was that competitive last year with the top girls in the state and this year I’ve been doing even better, I definitely have a much higher chance of making it this year,” Walker said. “I just have to go out there and race it.”
Walker doesn’t want it to come down to a wild card. She is aiming for a top 10 group finish that guarantees a spot in the MOC.
Walker is off to a good start. She was seventh in the senior division at the Cherokee Challenge, a 2-mile race, to open the season. She followed that up with a fourth-place finish at the Battle @ Ocean County Park in a new personal record for a 5k of 19:11. Walker’s next big race will be the Shore Coaches Invitational on Oct. 5 at Holmdel Park, site of the group meets and the Meet of Champions.
“Her races are just to the point to where she’s just confident in her race,” said Ewing coach Dan Johnson. “We’ve seen a lot of the top tier athletes within the state so far through the first few meets. And she’s just been confident in going out with those lead packs. Placing seventh over at the Cherokee Challenge and then the next weekend she placed fourth at the Ocean County meet.”
Walker came into the fall off another terrific spring track and field season. She posted personal bests of 5:22.18 for the 1,600 meters and 11:16.74 for the 3,200 meters. Seeing how high she finished in those big early cross country meets has further bolstered her confidence.
While Walker was doing great through her first three years, she wasn’t always the most confident. Johnson sees a change this year, something that has come from her years of experience and knowing how much training she has put in already. As she lines up side by side with talented runners that she has gotten to know through the years, her confidence is higher than ever.
“I feel like I’ve struggled with that, but this year it’s all clicking together,” she said. “I know how to handle my nerves better during the race and before the race. And I just know how to race. It takes time to figure out how to learn how to do that, but I have been more confident in my recent abilities with strategy and all that.”
Seeing top competition early in the year and showing she can run with them also is building her confidence further.
“It just helps her mentally,” Johnson said. “I think physically she’s always been capable. But I think mentally just seeing that and being there, I think that helps her tremendously and just understanding exactly where she’s at, like physically and being able to run with those top athletes, helps her.”
The Battle @ Ocean State Park was a 30-second improvement on the best that she’d ever run previously. Walker felt good going in about her chance to run well on the flat course, but she still surprised herself.
“I knew it was going to be competitive because there were girls in the race that I knew their names and they’re pretty fast so they could probably lead me to a PR, but then I ended up placing a lot higher than I thought I would,” Walker said. “And I ended up PRing quite a lot more than I thought I would, so that was pretty cool. It’s a big confidence booster also because, even if it was a flat course—because a lot of cross country courses definitely have hills—it definitely helps me mentally knowing I can run that fast.”
Her results are affirmation that her offseason training has been good. Walker took on a more pronounced leadership role and was diligent about her training.
“Over the summer when we just had captain’s practice a few days a week for Ewing,” said Walker. “The other days, when I wasn’t with Ewing, I would go out and run with my friends from other schools, and they’re also pretty good runners and it’s fun. It I think it helped a lot because it’s like I’m running with people I enjoy being around and also we help each other out with running.”
Walker has been thrilled that she has a bigger team with which to share her wisdom this year. The bigger turnout for cross country has also made her final year more enjoyable.
“We have a bigger team, so that’s cool to run with so many people and races have been going well,” Walker said.
She has to do many of her workouts with the boys to get the sort of push that she needs, but she’s happy to share her experience with the newer girls on the Ewing team and be another guide in their development.
“It’s been great,” Johnson said. “We actually have a much bigger team this year as far as for cross country and she’s just been a leader to those guys and just showing them, pretty much the ropes and taking them under her wing and allowing us just to flourish as a program.”
Walker won’t stop running after this year. She is exploring options where she can continue running in college, including potentially at TCNJ in what would make it a family affair. First, though, she is adding to her legacy as the top distance runner to come out of Ewing.
Ewing High School senior Teagan Walker is shown running in a recent event.,
