When In the Game called Tarah Young to interview her, we knew she was a talented track athlete with a bright future ahead of her. She and her Deerfield-Windsor Lady Knights had won region this year easily. She had toiled for three years, finally peaked this year, and would leave Deerfield-Windsor after a great senior season.
Wrong. Quite wrong.
She hadn’t been toiling for three years. She wasn’t leaving Deerfield-Windsor. And she certainly wasn’t a senior. Young is a sophomore. Very rarely does In the Game interview sophomores for its Player Spotlight feature. When told, Young laughed. “Yep, I’m just a sophomore.”
Two more years. That’s how long the rest of GISA Region 3-AAA will have to deal with Young, a fact the region likely isn’t looking forward to. In a short period of time, Young has put together a career that any senior would be proud of. She went out for track her sixth-grade year. Two years later, as an eighth-grader, she was running on the varsity team. Young went to state with the varsity team that year and finished fourth in the 100 meters. In the 4×100 relay, she brought the Lady Knights from seventh to third. “I never thought I was that athletic. When I realized I could run a little, it motivated me to keep working and getting better. It wanted to show everybody I could run,” she says. That season, she let everyone across the state know she could in fact run. Two years later, she’s still running. And about the only view her opponents have of her is from behind.
In 2013, Young was fifth in the state in the 100 meters, second in the 200, third in the 4×100, third in the 4×400, and eighth in the long jump. “I did the long jump but I didn’t particularly like it,” she says. Young and the Lady Knights followed last year’s performance with a convincing win at region, taking the Region 3 championship without any trouble at all. And Young led the way with 17.5 points and won the high point award at region. She followed that performance at the state meet with second place finishes in the 100 meters and 200 meters, and first place finishes in the 400 meters, 4×100 meters, and 4×400 meters.
Heading into the state meet, Young expected to do well. The meet turned out exactly how she figured it would. “I thought Katie Stone, who goes to Stratford, would beat me in the 100 and 200. I figured I could get her in the 400. And that’s what happened,” she says. Stone, a senior, has signed a scholarship to run track for the University of Georgia.
What is the key to Young’s success at such a relatively early age? She has figured something out that many high school runners never fully grasp – the art of pacing. Most high school runners take off wide open as soon as the gun sounds. They have no concept of pacing, settling in, and letting the race develop in front of them before they make a move. Young utilizes a different, more effective strategy. “I let my opponents go at the start of a race. I don’t start out as fast as I can run. I build up to my fastest pace as the race goes on. Then I run them down,” she says. That strategy has led Young to personal bests of 12.07 in the 100, 24.9 in the 200, and 55 seconds in the 400.
Despite the success she has enjoyed after just a few short years on the track, Young remains remarkably grounded and humble. She has high expectations but she is keeping everything in perspective. “My expectations are to keep winning. But I know someone out there is always faster than me. If I can’t beat them, I’ll keep working as hard as I can until I do,” she says.
With Tarah Young’s athleticism, it’s only natural that other coaches would like to have her on their teams. In particular, the basketball coaches have been after her to play for them. “People think I’d be a good basketball player because of my height. My brothers were good players but I’m not. I’m not coordinated, I can’t catch, I can’t play. I’ve tried soccer and tennis. In soccer, I got kicked more than the ball. I’m dangerous with any sport involving a ball. The only thing I can do with my feet is get from Point A to Point B,” she laughs.
Favorites:
• Subject: English or Latin
• Last book: The Fifth Wave by Rick Yancey
• Pepsi or Coke: Pepsi
• Superpower: Fly
• Person to meet: Robin Thicke
• Sport you wish you could play: Basketball
• Place to travel: Paris
Player Spotlight/South Georgia/June 2014
Tarah Young
Deerfield-Windsor School
Albany, Georgia
Robert Preston Jr.
Sophomore leads Lady Knight to region title, wins three individual state championships
