Schofield 11-year-old loves living on fast track
By Casey McGuire-Turcotte
Special to The Advertiser
When Jerry Baker first found his 7-year-old daughter watching track and field on TV Saturday mornings, he thought it was just a phase.
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When her daycare teacher called later, telling him of a certain little girl who was racing — and beating — all the boys in the schoolyard, he decided to sign her up for a track and field team.
Meghan Baker says she races against the clock, not other runners, when competing in track meets.
When less than four months later that same little girl won the AAU South Texas Regional Sub-Bantam (ages 7-8) 800-meter title, Baker figured this running thing would probably be here to stay.
He was right.
Meghan Baker, now 11, and an incoming sixth grader at Wheeler Intermediate, has been on the fast track since, dominating the Youth USA Track and Field (USATF) scene on O'ahu since her father was stationed at the Schofield Army Base in the summer of 1999.
Gordon Scruton, meet director and chairman of the Youth USATF in Hawai'i, has watched Baker's improvements in the two years she has been running with the Schofield Stallions.
"She's far and away above her age group in ability. It's unfortunate the program is set up in a way that doesn't allow her to run in the older division races so she can have some competition," Scruton said.
In the past two track seasons, which consist of five meets each, Meghan has amassed an impressive record in the middle and long distances races.
The 4-foot-9, 75-pounder is undefeated in the Midget (ages 11-12) age group this year in the 800-, 1500-, and 3000-meter runs, and owns season bests of 2 minutes, 44 seconds, 5:30, and 11:57, respectively.
Meghan also frequents the local road racing scene, including the Aloha Run 10K, the Fisher House 5K, and the Schofield Fourth of July 5K.
Last year, she placed 17th (2:43) in the Bantam 800 meters at the U.S. Junior Olympic National Championships in New York, and 11th in the 1500 meters (5:30).
Time of the essence
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For many young athletes, winning would be enough. But get Meghan Baker near a track meet and winning becomes secondary.
Meghan Baker, right, stretches with teammates before a track meet. “I think I’m working harder than last year, and because of that I’ve improved a lot on my times. I just need to train hard every day and I will keep improving,”
In the three years she's been running competitively, Meghan has already learned a valuable lesson in the ways of the running world, one that can sometimes take decades to realize: Time is all that matters.
"Last year at the Junior National meet, I won my heat and thought I had done really good. Then my mom told me that there were five other heats and the girls had run faster in those races. I ended up 17th. From then on, I knew I had to race the time, not the people."
That mentality has carried over to this season, and has significantly changed Meghan's training and racing.
"No one is close to me in the meets or really pushes me in practice. But I always imagine a girl from the Junior Olympics in front of me," Baker said. "Those are the girls I'm going to really be racing against. I want to go back there this year and kick some butt."
Rigorous workouts
If Meghan's training is any indication, she's well on her way to a good showing in this year's USATF Junior Olympic meet July 24-29 in Sacramento, Calif.
Her five-day-a-week training schedule is a rigorous one, comparable to some high school or even college programs.
A typical week can average between 12-18 miles, broken down like this:
Monday—Three to four 1,200 or 1,000 repeats on the track with 30 seconds rest.
Tuesday—Hill training.
Wednesday—Six 400-meter repeats on the track.
Thursday—1-4 miles easy jogging and stretching.
Friday—Off.
Saturday—Race.
Sunday—Off.
Former University of Hawai'i cross country and track and field coach Johnny Faerber said that to have this kind of motivation is rare, especially in someone so young.
"To do these kinds of workouts, you've got to be dedicated to your training," he said. "That's a lot of work for an 11-year-old. That's just about what I had my athletes doing."
Meghan has no complaints about the routine. She believes that her training is what will make her better.
"I think I'm working harder than last year, and because of that I've improved a lot on my times. I just need to train hard every day and I will keep improving."
Many coaches and parents in the track and field community hesitate giving young athletes demanding training schedules for fear of burnout.
However, starting a career at a young age doesn't necessarily mean burnout.
Marion Jones has run track since she was 9; Maurice Greene, since he was 8. Both have gone on to successful Olympic careers.
And sometimes, child prodigies such as tennis star Jennifer Capriati, who played in her first Wimbledon at age 14, can endure burnout and return to their careers years later better than ever.
Scruton, who has coached age group track and field in Hawai'i for more than 15 years, believes that serious sport careers should be left for the latter years.
"It doesn't pay to work kids hard until they're in eighth grade at the very earliest," Scruton said. "Kids just don't stay with it if you push too much. If parents make running work, track becomes one of those things the kid doesn't even want to talk about. Everyone loses when that happens."
Driving herself
Jamie Baker agrees, but says that she and her husband aren't forcing Meghan into anything.
"A lot of parents try to live vicariously through their children. We both want the best for Meghan, but this is her dream, not ours," Jamie Baker said.
"She's got her own drive. She loves what she's doing. We just don't want her to lose interest."
Jerry Baker, who is also the distance coach for the Schofield Stallions, feels his role as a parent and coach help Meghan keep things in perspective.
"If anything, we keep Meghan from overworking herself. Sometimes I think she might try to push too hard," Jerry said. "When someone beats her or when she doesn't do as well as she hoped, she gets really down on herself, and that just doesn't pay. That's when we have to tell her that losing is just as much a part of running as winning — you've got to learn to accept both."
Meghan will get a chance to test herself later this month.
After completing yet another triple of the 800, 1,500, and 3,000 at the Hawai'i Association Junior Olympic Championship meet yesterday, it's off to the 35th annual National Junior Olympic meet in Sacramento, where she'll compete in all three events again.
Although Meghan has only notched one national qualifying time this year (3,000/11:59), she will represent Hawai'i at the National meet in the 800 (2:33 qualifying) and 1,500 (5:20 qualifying) because of her top three finishes at previous Hawai'i meets.
"I'm going to go back there and try harder," Meghan said. "I want to prove that I can do well in the big meets too."
The ultimate goal for Meghan is still years away from now, long after youth track and the Junior Olympics. The Baker family will be relocating once again at the end of this year to Fort Louis, Wash., near Tacoma. With her high school career yet to begin, Meghan has already set her sights on bigger things.
"I want to go to Princeton University on a full scholarship for sports and grades," Baker said. "I'm going to be an ER doctor, so once I have a career I probably won't have time to race anymore. I'll just run for exercise."
She adds with a smile, "I guess I'll have to get into the Olympics before then."
