directions_run Run • June 1, 2026, 1:08 a.m.

Had a great time at state. I went into prelims on Friday pretty nervous. I knew we would have to run a quick time to qualify for finals. In prelims I made sure to get out well and make the move earlier rather than later. I ran with the chase pack the entire race and finished at 3rd by the handoff. I ended up running a small pr of 1:57.04. I was a bit worried since I didn’t get our team our first we might not qualify. But our heat ended up just being really fast and the rest of the team ran great so we secured a spot in finals. It was so exciting to hit the qual and have everyone run PRs but it was important to stay composed for Saturday. Luckily the day of finals was a bit cooler. There was less pressure since I would be racing a lot of the same guys. When the race started I got out really well and slid into first in the first 150m. I pretty much ran all alone in the front for the entire race until the last 150. It was hard to run without anyone in sight but the adrenaline from the race and the crowd helped me focus. I handed off baton off in third again and ran 1:57.4. It was a crazy feeling being in the mix and seeing Johnny and Tarasi lead the race. Mark closed well against a quick field and got us 5th. Last year we were 28th overall and didn’t make it past prelims. It’s very rewarding to have the years of hard work payoff. Besides the race it was a great to be able to hangout with the seniors one last time.