Nepon leads Mead’s talented soph running contingent

Taylor Nepon, along with fellow members of a talented, if untested, sophomore class, had big distance shoes to fill when he joined Mead’s cross country varsity this year.

Wearing size-14 shoes, Nepon has filled them literally as well as figuratively.

Beginning with his first varsity race, the season opener with defending state champion Ferris when Nepon was the top Panthers finisher, he has run in the lead pack all season.

Three others from last year’s exceptional freshman crew, Kelvin Daratha, Ryan Bishop and Dylan Hatcher, have helped keep Mead’s program among the state’s elite.

“We saw it in cross country when they easily won the freshman city championship,” said coach Pat Tyson of Mead’s young talent. “And when you have four guys nearly breaking 10 minutes for 3,200 meters in track, that tells me something.”

Still, there was plenty of uncertainty surrounding this year’s Panthers, who had graduated state champion Evan Garber, along with several other senior team members. This year’s state favorite, Laef Barnes, was nursing a nagging injury.

It turns out the youngsters proved remarkably capable, led by Nepon.

The strapping youngster, standing nearly 6-feet-2, with the big feet — “He’s such a big guy, if I was a football guy I’d be drooling,” said Tyson — has been a revelation. He was Mead’s No. 1 runner in each of its first three Greater Spokane League races.

Nepon’s love for running began in middle school.

“I wasn’t that great, but we had a good team and it was fun,” he said. “I decided to come out for track in eighth grade and got really fast. “

He was freshman cross country champion by last fall, when Mead had six of the top eight placers. Nepon ran a 2-minute 800 in track before illness laid him low.

This summer, to further plant the seeds of distance running in his youngsters, Tyson took them on a tour of storied Oregon distance shrines. They visited Steve Prefontaine’s hometown and met with former Ducks coach Bill Dellinger.

“It was pretty awesome,” said Nepon, “going through his house and seeing the memories. It was motivating.”

This fall, Nepon has blossomed.

“I trained pretty hard over the summer, but I’m still pretty surprised,” said Nepon. “It was a big jump for me.”