From Bowman County to the Bison: Wanner Finds Purpose Beyond the Finish Line

What started out as a simple sport to be engaged in soon became a passion for Taylor Wanner, taking him from a small town in western North Dakota to the NDSU cross-country and track and field team.

Graduating with a class of 30 from Bowman County, North Dakota, Wanner grew up in a dominant cross-country area and joined cross country in seventh grade, following in his older brother Austin Wanner’s footsteps. However, originally wanting to play football, he said he had no desire to do cross country at all. But slowly, as the year went on, Wanner said he fell in love with it and the team, feeling like he had found his spot.

Wanner enjoyed getting to work with a team with such a great culture of wanting to work hard while still having fun competing. He described running in a small community as having such good support. If you were running around town, people would honk just to show they were always supporting and cheering the team on. He also described the coaching as an incredibly positive aspect of his experience early in his career.

“The coaching was just amazing, especially because they didn’t run such a tight ship where they needed to control everything. They were happy to adapt and learn, especially to what suited us the best, and that’s how I think we were able to grow,” said Wanner.

Wanner also competed in wrestling up until his eighth-grade year before deciding to take on running full time. While explaining that it was hard to drop wrestling, especially because his dad was the wrestling coach, the winter of his freshman year was the first time he just trained and ran through the winter, and it showed immense benefits.

Throughout his high school career, Wanner won 12 state championships, including sweeping all four events with a win in 2024 and 2025. His junior year, he became the North Dakota State Class B Meet record holder in the 800-meter with a time of 1:53.18 and broke it again his senior year with a time of 1:52.90, which is still standing. He also won the Gatorade North Dakota Boys Track & Field Player of the Year in 2024-25.

After graduating, Wanner held the school record in the 800-meter, 1,600-meter, 3,200-meter, 4x800-meter and 4x1,600-meter, with four of the five records still standing.

Outside of track, Wanner was also a five-time top-20 finisher in the North Dakota Boys Class B State Meet for cross country.

Competing outside of Bowman County, Wanner traveled to New Balance Nationals

Outdoors in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, during his sophomore year of high school, running a Bowman County school-record time of 7:51.19 in the 4x800-meter relay. In his senior year of high school, Wanner competed at the Nike Outdoor Nationals in Eugene, Oregon, winning the boys Emerging Elite 4x800-meter relay with a time of 7:52.24.

Stemming from wrestling, Wanner said he put so much pressure on himself to perform throughout his career, causing a mental block where he would go out there to try not to lose instead of going out to win.

With faith being the biggest thing that helped the athlete overcome that pressure, Wanner described how his perspective changed.

“It wasn’t until my sophomore year in high school that I had a big moment. I had a confirmation class where I was challenged. So, then I felt like everything changed in my priorities, and then I was able to more easily just surrender, give up a bad race and just make it not be totally on me and be happy with the results. This is the gift that I was given, so I want to use it well.”

With his dad also growing up and racing for Bowman County, Wanner said his dad played a huge role and was an inspiration throughout his competing career.

“He’s done such amazing things. I just want to make him proud,” he said.

Choosing NDSU was easy for Wanner, with teammates already here, including his older brother. He explained that it’s a huge honor to be able to represent his state at a collegiate level.

“As a kid, I always dreamed of wearing NDSU. So, getting to wear the Bison on my chest is a huge honor and gives me something to run for,” said the sophomore.

Wanner also described the coaching and support from the NDSU community as a key aspect of his love for the sport.

Last year, the Bison men’s cross-country team took third overall in the conference, while the track and field team took first. Wanner said the biggest goal for the team for the rest of the year is to win all three conferences, including cross country, indoor track and field and outdoor track and field.

The NDSU men’s cross-country team is currently ranked third in the Summit League, with South Dakota State ranked first and the University of North Dakota ranked second. The biggest focus for the team is training hard and staying healthy.