(Photo by Andy Warrener)
With all the regional action taking place last week, the 400m final results from the Class 2A Region 3 meet might have slipped under the radar. Making her mark at Berkeley Prep in Tampa last Thursday, was Lake Wales sophomore Mariah Walker. Walker has come, seemingly out of nowhere, to take over the best 400m time in the state of Florida and the third-best time in the United States this season. Lined up against 2014 400m state champ Janae Caldwell of Spoto, Walker surged out in front.
"When she starts out fast, people look for her to die," Walker's father Marcus said. "But since she's trained for it and she doesn't die, it causes other runners to panic."
That's just what happened at the 2A Region 3 meet last Thursday. Walker surged out in front of Caldwell and a very fast Erykah Jerome of Jefferson. Everyone kept waiting for Walker to slow down. She didn't. Walker ran a jaw-dropping 53.27, pulled the top five runners around in sub-59 seconds, Caldwell to a season best (54.69), Brittany Thomas to a personal record 57.95 and Jerome to a PR 58.41.
Walker didn't exactly come out of nowhere. She'd been running 55s all year long, problem for Walker was that she was smoking every heat she came up against and competition drives her. However, even with stiff competition, Walker is still going to get out there in front, it's part of her strategy and ideology.
"I just don't like the feeling of being behind, I'm more comfortable when I'm out in front, leading the race," Walker said. "I don't like chasing, I'm confident when I'm out in front, no-one can catch me."
It's part of the mentality and strategy Walker's dad, Marcus has been putting together for her over the years.
"When Maiah is out in front of other runners, it takes them out of their element, their comfort zone and causes other runners to run her race and not theirs," Marcus Walker said.
Marcus Walker put it together, pretty quickly that Maiah Walker was destined to become a great sprinter. She ran for the Bok Academy in Lake Wales a couple years prior to high school and Maiah Walker won the Polk County Middle School championships in the 100m, 200m and 4x100m relay as an eight grader. Marcus Walker had no problem pitting Maiah against her brothers, older brother Marcus Jr. is now at Kentucky on a football scholarship, Mikhail is a sophomore at Lake Wales, David is a freshman and there are two grade-school aged younger brothers.
"She (Maiah) got to the point where her younger brothers just stopped racing her," Marcus Walker said. "They would just give up."
Eventually, Marcus Jr. would hit puberty and be able to beat Maiah in foot races but Marcus Sr. saw a real talent, one that availed itself at the 2015 state meet.
Walker only ran the 100m, 200m, 4x100m and 4x400m as a freshman but made the state meet in the 4x400m. She matched up with American Heritage, then seventh-grader Danielle Bess, on the first leg of the 4x400m final.
"She won (made the first exchange) by a good distance," Marcus Walker said.
Bess was the open 400m champion in the 2A meet in 2015 with a 57.36.
"We saw the times of the people winning the state meet in the 400m and in my mind, I feel like she would have won state last year," Marcus Walker said.
So the training for the 400m began over that summer. Marcus Walker had Maiah doing a squat regimen, 500 squats a day. It was the same way Marcus Sr. trained Marcus Jr. during his football days at Lake Wales.
"You use light weights, it's more of a regimen but it gets the body accustomed to burn," Marcus Walker said. "The body has to be strong enough to finish strong."
Finishing strong had to be the biggest part missing from Walker's race as she'd run 100s and 200s for years.
"She hated anything longer than a 100 or a 200," Marcus Walker said.
Maiah Walker would echo the sentiment.
"The first time I ran a (open) 400m was at Frostproof, I ran for a teammate and no, I did not like it," Walker said. "I started doing the 4x4 and I still didn't like it but then my body started to get used to it and I started to like it."
Then the races and records began to fall. A quick look at Walker's season stats in the 400m, there is nothing but first-place finishes, aside from a runner-up finish at Jimmy Carnes. Walker had to correct some issues with her running style.
"Last year, she ran like Forest Gump," Marcus Walker said. "This year, she runs smarter races."
Walker said she worked on "back slapping" which, Walker explained, was a symptom of over striding where the heel of your foot hits the back of your upper leg. Walker worked on drills to actually shorten her strides. The results speak for themselves. Walker is the top seed coming into Class 2A states in the 400m. She also will be competing at states in the 100m and 200m. Walker has the seventh-best 100m time coming in, a 12.02 from regionals and the fourth-best 200m time, a 24.13 from the Polk County championships. She's the favorite to win the 400m but her and hers dad's goals reach far higher.
"Our goal is to be the best in the nation in the 100m, 200m, and 400m," Marcus Walker said.
While the 100m and 200m goals look a bit distant at this point, Walker has that 400m goal already in sight. Marcus Walker sees a steep rise for his daughter.
"This is just the beginning of her potential," Marcus Walker said. "I didn't want to start her too early, a lot of girls get tired out."
And Walker seems up to the challenge both on the track and in the classroom.
"Track has made her more independent, more reliable," Marcus Walker said. "Over the summer her friends will be going out places and she'll be training. She's also doing very good with her education. If she has to sit in front of the table until 11pm, that's what she's going to do."
