Record-Breaking Distance Runner Who Broke Out At New Balance Nationals Indoor Missed Most Of Spring With Injury But Is Hopeful She Can Make A Simillar Splash At NBNO

By Oliver Hinson of DyeStat

Will Nelson Photo

As the track and field world learned in early March, Katy Zang is full of surprises.

The senior from Teays Valley High School in Ashville, Ohio became a star in 9 minutes and 37.15 seconds at New Balance Nationals, breaking Mary Cain’s longstanding high school record in the indoor 2-mile and beating several of the best distance runners in the country — Abigail Hennessy and Natasza Dudek among them.

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DyeStat’s headline from the day read: “Katy Zang, Seemingly Out of Nowhere, Runs Down the National 2-Mile Record.”

Two days later, she was added to the field in the mile championship and took that race convincingly, running 4:35.02 and winning by almost two seconds.

Then, for months after, the world lost sight of Zang again. A stress fracture threatened to take out her entire outdoor season, and while records fell across the country, she cross-trained for hours every week in Ohio. She didn’t start running at all until about four weeks ago.

But Zang’s season is not over. She made a quiet return last weekend at the Great Lakes Night of Stars in Tiffin, Ohio, running 10:17.56 to win the Elite 3,200 meters against little competition.

She will make a far louder return this weekend at Franklin Field in Philadelphia. She’s entered in the mile and 2-mile at New Balance Nationals Outdoor, and while these races won’t be her season debuts, they will be the first races she’s run against national-level competition in three months. 

Thousands will be watching to see if Zang can replicate her mid-March magic. She believes she can do it.

“I’m a little nervous,” Zang said on a recent episode of DyeStat Shorts, “but I definitely think that I can pull off (something) similar to the same result I did (at New Balance Nationals Indoor).”

In the mile, she will face a field that includes Hennessy, the Massachusetts state champion, Kaitlyn Estep, the North Carolina state champion, and Mallory Weller, the Indiana state champion. All have run under 4:40 or the 1,600 meters equivalent.

The 2-mile includes Emma Hoffman (Ohio) and Allison Lee (New Jersey), who were fifth and seventh, respectively, at the Brooks PR Invitational, and Elin Latta, who was fourth in the mile at te HOKA Festival of Miles, 

Zang is counting on a return to form this week, but it's been a long and tedious process. This opportunity almost didn’t happen.

When she was first diagnosed with her stress fracture in early April, her doctor told her she would likely be out for the season. That news crushed her.

“Coming into my outdoor season there was a lot of expectations, especially it being my senior season,” Zang said. “I was gonna try to break the state record for the mile and 2-mile outdoor… I was gonna try to pull off a national record… everything was going according to plan until I got the stress fracture.”

Zang did not want to accept her season being over — so she didn’t. She dove headfirst into a rigorous cross-training regimen, something she was already familiar with after having been injured in several previous seasons.

When she did return to running, she was pleasantly surprised at how much of her fitness she retained.

“My fitness has actually been amazing coming back,” Zang said. “I feel like I’m in shape still, and I don’t feel like I’ve lost a whole lot at all.”

In order to make a quick comeback, she had to include a lot of aerobic specificity in her workouts — in other words, more race pace and VO2 max work and less threshold work. Zang knows that’s not the most conventional approach, especially today — threshold workouts have become a staple of programs at all levels — but she doesn’t care. 

“(I’m) not looking at someone else and saying, ‘Hey, I’m gonna do the exact same thing they did and expect the same result,’” Zang said. “It’s not going to happen. Everyone’s different.”

Zang has certainly had an unconventional path to the top. Before she ran 9:37.15 in the 2-mile in March, she had never broken 5 minutes in a mile or 1,600-meter race. She did run 9:42.84 in the 3,200 a week prior, but no one expected her to become a national champion in Boston, much less a national record holder.

She didn’t expect it, either. Whereas the rest of the field had extensive credentials on which to build confidence, Zang had little to go off of. She simply wanted to make the most of what she saw as a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.

This weekend is entirely different — the expectations are much higher. And yet, it is strikingly similar. Whereas the rest of the field has a spring full of racing under their belt, Zang once again has almost nothing to show for the past three months. 

And once again, she is trying to make the most of a special opportunity. These two races are the summation of her high school career, and they were not guaranteed. She clawed her way back from what could have been a season-ending injury and gave herself one last chance. 

Just as she did in March, she will step on the line with two things by her side: confidence and trust.

“When you put the two together,” Zang said, “you’re unstoppable.”

1 12 Allison Lee 9:50.52 WWHN

1 10 Elin Latta 9:59.12 STHH

1 12 Maggie McCormick 9:59.35 UNA37

1 12 Emma Hoffman 10:02.41 U2945

1 12 Sundara Weber 10:03.92 U1859

1 12 Calysta Garmer 10:05.53 UN400

1 12 Amaya Bharadwaj 10:05.77 U2063

1 12 Jazzlyn Garmer 10:06.92 UN400