By Jim Walker

jim.walker@irontontribune.com

The oval track that McKenzie Long runs upon is 400 meters long, or 1,312,3 feet. But the entire track road Long has traveled is much longer.

Much, much, much longer.

Long’s road began in Ironton at the elementary school when she raced during recess against the boys and won.

And won, and won, and won.

“I was always fast. In recess, I would always beat the boys. I knew I was just naturally fast. On top of that, I did gymnastics first and so I think that’s where my turnover speed was from, gymnastics, and I guess a lot of coaches could see that when I got on the track they could see my foot speed.”

Next came middle school and more wins in both the seventh and eighth grades where she continued to win.

And win, and win, and win.

Amy Perry and Kevin Richardson were Long’s track coaches in middle school. Perry had the most interaction since she was the girls’ coach.

“Coach K and I knew when we got Kenzie on the track team we knew she was going to be a successful athlete because we had watched her compete in gymnastics. We watched the videos and we knew she was going to have a great deal of jumping abilities, speed, so when we got her out she was a hard worker,” said Perry.

“She came right out and she was ready to roll. She had watched her brothers who both ran track for us the previous couple of years, so she knew what to expect when she came to middle school track and she picked it up right away.”

That was followed by a high school career at. Pickerington followed by a a college career at North Carolina State followed by a graduate season at Mississippi.

“I was committed to Ohio State first, then I de-committed and I went to N.C. State. It just felt like home over there. Honestly, I miss N.C. State. It was a great school. But it wasn’t getting me anywhere in terms of competition,” said Long.

It was at Ol’ Miss that she ran in the NCAA Division 1 national championships where she won.

And won, and won, and won.

Long ran 10.82 seconds to win the 100, 21.83 to win the 200 meters and 4×100 really posted 42.34 seconds clocking.

Her time in the 200 meters is the second fastest time in women’s college history and the 24th fastest time in world track and field history.

The relay team of Akilah Lewis, Gabrielle Matthews, Jahniya Bowers and Long  combined for the 18th fastest time in women’s college history.

Long is one of only six women to win all three of those events.

An unknown defect was hampering Long’s progress. It was discovered that she had a hip impingement that led to a torn labrum.

“It was like a genetic thing. All of my undergrad I wasn’t able to run at my best because of my hip. I was battling injuries all of my undergrad, but once I got the surgery that’s when I was able to turn it over.,” said Long.

“After I got my hip surgery, which was the main factor, the click I needed or like the ‘Ah Ha’ moment. When I got my hip surgery, that’s when I was able to go to Ol’ Miss and that’s when I went up in track.”

After the NCAA championships in Eugene, Oregon, the winding road returned to that same city as Long competed in the USA Olympic Track and Field Trials.

Part of Long’s preparations for the Olympic Trials included a meeting with herself as she got her mindset under control. And Long remembered some of the conversations with her mother Tara before she died of a heart attack in her sleep during the winter indoor season.

“I didn’t want to freak myself out because I was like, ‘This was another track. This is the same old track.’ Obviously, I did have my mom in the back of my head. I knew everything me and her talked about, so I wanted to put that into action. I want to actually do what it is that me and her talked about before I left her house,” said Long, who considered her mother her best friend.

“I just saw her at Christmas break. Right before I left I said, ‘Mom, I’m going to stay all business and do what I have to do.’ It stayed with me the whole entire season.  I didn’t want to put too much pressure on myself. So, in each race, in each moment, that’s what I thought about. I didn’t want to think about the races down the line. I just wanted to focus on the race I was doing at that moment.”

Long ran well in the 100 meters but failed to qualify in the event. However, in the finals of the 200 meter dash at the Olympic Trials, the race was extremely tight as Gabby Thomas won with a 21.81 time followed by Brittany Brown at 21.90, just one one-hundredth of a second ahead of Long.

Now the road was crossing the Atlantic Ocean as she traveled to Paris, France, for the Summer Olympics.

“Qualifying for the Olympics, I was shocked. I was in disbelief. I was speechless,” said Long with a grin. “But honestly, I knew I was able to do it before I was going out there. I did a lot of manifesting. I did a lot of visualizing before I actually went out there to perform. I would say that’s probably what helped motivate me and gave me confidence.

“You know, I was competing against the top females in the world. I got third at the trials and it was only like a tenth (of a second). Second place ran 21.90 and I ran 21.91.”

Long’s first Olympic appearance produced a ribbon as she finished seventh in the 200-meter dash with a time of 22.42 seconds.

The top 7 times were Gabrielle Thomas of the USA at 21.83, St. Lucia’s Julien Alfred 22.08, Brittany Brown of the USA 22.20, Dina Asher-Smith of England 22.22, Daryll Neita of England 22.23, Favour Ofli of Nigeria 22.4 and Long.

The eighth place finisher was Jessika Gbai of Cote Divoire at 22.70 which meant the top 8 finishers were separated by less than one second.

“Coach K and I watched her throughout her college career. This past year, when she was competing at that NCAA championship, we knew she had it. We had such an extreme sense of pride about her process and when she placed at the top in all of her events, getting that triple crown, we knew this was going to happen for her,” said Perry.

“We knew she was going to get to the Olympics trials and head to Paris. Obviously, it’s the proudest moment I’ve had as a coach.”

The winding road continues as it ventures to Japan for the World Championships next September.

“I’ll be training for the World’s next year. It’s the same process. You have to make the team. It’s basically like a mini-Olympics,” said Long.

Training goes down a different road. Long’s job is now to train and she might have a different program than other track athletes.

“I do a lot of cross training because of my surgery that I had. I do a lot of swimming, a lot of pool work. I’m only on the track twice a week. The rest of the time I’m cross training,” said Long.

Although training is her job, she is expecting to earn her money from endorsements.

“My agent works on that side of things with the endorsements and marketing and stuff,” said Long. “So, typically it’ll start rolling in pretty soon. I’m a newbie in this track professional world, so it’ll get there.”

And down the road, when the track road comes to an end, Long has a plan for that, too.

Down the road when track is done.

“I do have a lot of undergrad degrees and degrees in general, so that’ll work it out. And hopefully, I’ll have some other connections and work on the professional level,” she said.

“My goal is to get another contract which would push me into my mid-30s. After that, I’ll probably not even have to work. That’s the goal!”

And that’s a road that will be well traveled.