BRIGHTON — Taylor Wiegand became a distance runner out of necessity.
Livingston Christian was trying to cobble together a cross country lineup in 2021, but was below the minimum of five runners needed to score as a team.
As a school with less than 100 students, Livingston Christian can use eighth-graders on high school varsity teams.
That’s where Wiegand came in — though not with a high degree of enthusiasm.
Wiegand already kept herself busy playing volleyball, basketball and soccer, ball sports that can seem much more fun to a youngster than running 3.1 miles.
You play volleyball. You play basketball. You play soccer.
You don’t play cross country.
“It was a new sport,” Wiegand said. “At the time, I really liked basketball, but then they needed another person on the cross country team to even be able to go to regionals and try to qualify (for the state meet). So, my parents kind of told me, ‘You’re going to do cross country.’ I’m like, ‘OK.’
“The first year, I wasn’t really sure. Then I made it to states and I was like, ‘OK, I could be good at this.’ Then the next year, I qualified again. Now I really like this.”
Wiegand’s first three seasons of competitive running were on cross country courses, because Livingston Christian didn’t have a track and field team.
That changed this spring when Wiegand, a sophom*ore, became the Livingston Christian track and field program as a one-girl team.
Her success in cross country has made running her favorite sport, so much so that she hopes to continue it in college. Training and racing in the spring will help further that goal.
“I told my dad, we kind of talked about it, that I might be interested in doing that after talking to colleges,” said Wiegand, who also played soccer for the Falcons this spring. “My parents, without them I wouldn’t be doing this whole track thing, so I’m really thankful and I really appreciate it because it’s been a really great experience for me.”
This isn’t the first time a talented athlete has performed a solo act in track and field for Livingston Christian.
Thrower Paxton Titus represented the Falcons in 2016 and 2017, winning two Division 4 state championships in discus and one in shot put. Until now, nobody else has competed in the sport for Livingston Christian, a school of 66 high school students located just down the road from Brighton High School.
Although Wiegand is the only athlete in a Livingston Christian uniform at meets, she doesn’t feel alone. She trains and warms up by herself, but has developed relationships with runners from other schools, particularly those from state Division 4 cross country champion Whitmore Lake.
“I’ll talk to them online and stuff, because they know I’m a one-person team,” Wiegand said. “They’re really nice girls. I race with them a lot in cross country, so I definitely know them there, too. I also know in the race I can pace with them, because they’re fast. I know if I’m with them, I can definitely accomplish what I want to.
“It definitely helps having them, especially at the races, because I know their paces are similar to mine. I know I have someone to pace with out there.”
Wiegand will get the chance to catch up with the Whitmore Lake girls Saturday at the Division 4 state finals in Hudsonville.
Wiegand qualified by winning the 800-meter run in 2 minutes, 25.5 seconds and placing fifth in the 1,600 in 5:33.46. Her 1,600 time easily exceeded the additional-qualifying standard of 5:43.
“I feel more confident in my mile, but I also really like the 800,” Wiegand said. “I guess my plan would be to stay with the Whitmore Lake girls, especially Natalie (Meadows), because I know they’re my pace. They’re also just really sweet girls and they’re easy to get along with.”
Wiegand hopes to make the all-state podium, like she did last November at Michigan International Speedway. She was in the middle of the all-state pack with an 18th-place finish in a personal-record 19:36.3 after placing 144th as an eighth-grader and 48th as a freshman.
“It definitely boosted my confidence,” she said. “I was not expecting to PR at states. I usually don’t PR at states, I usually PR at regionals. This time, I felt really good at states. That was just a really cool experience for me to get all-state.”
Contact Bill Khan at wkhan@gannett.com. Follow him on X@BillKhan
This article originally appeared on Livingston Daily: MSHAA state track and field: Meet Livingston Christian's one-girl team
