Going into the 3,200 meter race at last weekend’s Class 4A state track and field championships, Redmond senior Sarah Lord knew it could be her last shot at distance running glory.

“It was my last chance to win a state title, since I was much more of a favorite in the two-mile versus one mile,” she explained. “I knew what I had to do to win, I knew my race plan, so I was really just excited and ready to go.”

Her strategy for last Thursday’s race involved following U.C. Davis standout Sandra Martinez, who placed sixth in the state last year, and just pour it on down the home stretch at Mount Tahoma High in Tacoma.

Lord ended up making her move slightly earlier than intended due to pressure by one of the state’s top distance runners.

“At 500 meters to go Chloe (Treleven, Curtis High School) went, so I was like ‘gotta go now,'” Lord recalled. “With 300 meters to go I could see my shadow and I didn’t see anyone else behind me, so I just went for it.”

Lord won the race with a personal-best time of 10 minutes, 30.47 seconds, nearly seven seconds ahead of Treleven. Two days later, she placed second in the 1,600, capping her remarkable career with a gold and silver medal.

PURE BLISS

Lord’s gold-medal run represented the culmination of a stellar prep career with many close calls, as the talented runner placed third in both the 1,600 and 3,200 meter races at last year’s Star Track, improving on her 10th and sixth from her sophomore season.

“It was just pure bliss to finally have a state title. I’ve been working towards that for a long time and I’ve come close,” Lord said. “Finally, I had it.”

After a dominating Kingco season during which Lord finished first 16 times in races ranging in distances from 400 to 3,200 meters, her win did not come as a surprise to her coaches and teammates.

“It was not a surprise,” said Redmond head coach Denis Villeneuve. “We were hoping it would work out that way, and we knew that she had a really good opportunity to get that. We felt like she was one of the best, if not the best, distance runners in the state.

“She followed the race plan to perfection, and she did it.”

Villeneuve has been building Lord up ever since ninth grade, when she joined the Mustangs’ track and field team, with all of her hard work coming to fruition at the tail end of her illustrious prep distance running career.

“Coach Vill has just each season, been building and building training-wise, and this winter I picked up my recovery pace a little bit,” Lord said. “I focused more on core and upper-body strength because that would help me on the last lap, and that all really came together well.”

Lord had a very good chance to sweep the distance events as she was neck-and-neck with Mead’s Baylee Mires in the final leg of the 1,600.

“I tried to pass her with 200 to go, and we were back-and-forth until the last 100 meters,” Lord said. “Then she kind of took off.”

Mires won the race in 4:56.35, with Lord just over a stride behind at 4:57.03. Lord’s teammate Jillian Jaccard earned her first podium finish, placing eighth in 5:04.78.

BROOKMAN BREAKS TWO

Redmond had a number of other great performances at Star Track, but one of the most incredible field event moments in school history belonged to senior Jimmy Brookman.

The wrestling team co-captain saved his best for last as he hurled the javelin a school-record 204 feet, shattering the old Redmond High School mark by six feet.

Any other year, Brookman’s toss would be enough to crown him the state champion, but this year Lewis and Clark phenom Joe Zimmerman set a new state record with a throw of 208 feet, 4 inches.

“It was an 18-foot personal record for him, he was just ecstatic,” said Villeneuve on Brookman’s effort. “It was really, really fun to see that. He had three of his six throws over 200 feet, and his best before that was (184 feet, 9 inches). He had a great meet.”

In the pole vault, Amy Sturdivant tied the school record by clearing 10 feet, 6 inches, and finished tied for sixth place. Senior Ally Mueller also took the podium with a seventh-place javelin throw of 123 feet, 10 inches.

Sprinter Cole Hardwick rounded out the Mustangs’ podium efforts by sneaking into the final heat of the 200 and placing seventh with a time of 22.69.