Emily Wisniewski

Crescent Valley, Corvallis, OR, c/o 2025
AthleticNET Bio

Watching Emily Wisniewski speed to a new sophomore class record in the 5k(16:10.16) was like watching a metronome. Her lap splits were between 74.5(last lap)-79.7 and she never wavered as she caught Zariel Macchia and then kept winner Payton Noe in sight, never allowing the time gap to spread more than six seconds over the last half of the race.  Her running style and blonde locks reminded me of Arkansas star Lauren Gregory. She’s tough and has a deliberate, methodical way of striding across the track, her feet tracking in nearly a straight line and not much wasted motion-everything is going forward and she doesn’t expend much time in the vertical direction.

Emily’s father, Mike, was an All American at Michigan and ran pro for Team Minnesoata so growing up, she would hear stories of his running career on runs with her mom which she loved. By the sixth grade, she was eager to try the sport, but at the time, soccer was her primary sport. She played forward and was on the travel team so that left little time to train for track and cross country.

She did show promise. She  won most of her cross country races in the seventh grade and by the eighth grade she had personal bests of 5:01.1 for 1,500m and 10:41.8 for 3,000m on the track.

“In sixth and seventh grade. I did more fun runs during the summer and winter, but it was never something I took really seriously. I never did like big workouts on my own. until the eighth grade.”

Going into her freshman year of high school, she made the decision to focus more on cross country and track.

“I couldn't really see myself being good or going a ton further with soccer. I was more excited about being good at cross country and track. So I decided to focus on that.”

She ramped up her mileage to 45-55 miles per week and received training  tips from her father who eased her into her training.

“I just worked at adding in more miles during the summer. In the  middle of August I started  adding in tempo work, fartleks and then slowly added  track workouts for faster stuff. I was  trying to get fit for the last couple of weeks.”

That freshman year got off to a rousing start and never tempered. She won eighth races including the Oregon 5A State Championship in 18:27.90 and finished no worse than 18th during the regular season(her only time out of the top ten) in twelve races. She finished off the season with a 15th place at the Eastbay West Regional in 18:21.20.

“I was five off of making the team, but I think it was a good experience for my freshman year. Mt SAC was a really hard course. I was never in the top ten and was working my way up the entire race.”

For track, she wasn’t sure what to expect and was nervous because she hadn’t had a full season in awhile because of COVID. Her goal was to break five for the 1,500m and then win state in the 3,000m. She accomplished both running 4:47.18 to finish third in the Oregon 5A state race (4:44.94 was her best) and winning the 3,000m at state in 10:03.76(9:53.89 was her best).

After the season, she lowered her 5k track best to 17:23.0 at the Portland Track Festival and then geared up for her sophomore year of cross country.

“During the summer,  I really focused on what helped me more with my running, and what I needed  to focus on inside and outside of running,” she says of her summer build up and her running her sophomore year. “I started building up my base in my mileage for cross country first. Outside of running I made sure I was sleeping and eating enough which helped a lot. Cross country helped me get ready for track as well. Being confident in knowing that I'd improved a lot in my freshman year helped me during my sophomore year.”

Her training paid off and she dominated the cross country season winning ten of her 13 races including another state championship in 17:58.6. In the postseason, she finished fourth at the NXR NW Regional and 27th at the NXN. She was hoping to be All-American, but it didn’t work out well that day.

“I think that I wasn't as nervous as I thought I was going to be just because I was having more fun with it then taking it super seriously. I was hoping to do a little bit better. Like to be all American. But I think it was the end of the season I was getting a little tired.I think I definitely learned a lot and it will help me in coming years.” 

Track went well too as she claimed another 3,000m state championship in 9:28.52, and a second place in the 1,500m in 4:31.82. Both were personal bests. 

Wisniewski thrives in the training process and the daily workouts and has never had a major injury. This summer, she has upped her mileage even more, running 60 or more  miles per week. She understands the long term gains come with patience and getting in the miles.

“You just have to learn to enjoy the process and that good things come over time. It can take a while, but it will all come together,” she says. “ I also like the outcome like the improvement and racing. I really enjoy racing so I think that's really helpful.”

With her 16:10.16 5k speed she has left most of her female teammates behind. She trains with the boys team during cross country, but when they do something faster or different, she’ll train on her own.

She hadn’t expected to go 16:10.16 at Nike Outdoor Nationals because the season was long and she was a bit tired. Her workout pace ranged between 75-80 second per lap so she felt a mid 16 would be doable. Having other girls to compete against in the first half of the race and the environment at Hayward Field spurred her on as she got a really big personal best in her only 5k of the season. She only learned afterwards that she had broken Ellie Shea’s record 16:10.42 set in ‘21.

“I think it was exciting,” she says of breaking the record. “ It kind of helped me realize how much I enjoy distance more on the track so I'll keep focusing on that.”

She also offers this assessment of the race.

“ Honestly, during the race, I think starting out fast helped, but also my legs were burning during the race.I think I was pretty tired from the end of the season. I think I could do better if it was like earlier, like closer to state.”

Wisniewski isn’t all about running. Crescent Valley has a very good art program and she loves ceramics, painting and drawing. She and her family like to go camping, hiking and mountain biking and she has “big range of stuff to do. ” 

With such heady credentials, the reticent Wisniewski has a modest outlook on her future. 

“I have a goal of running D1 somewhere and  just enjoying the time there and seeing where it takes me.”