Before the year started, Redmond junior Sarah Lord sat down with distance coach Denis Villenueve and mapped out a series of goals for the season.
And as the season has progressed, Lord has checked off one after another, with the latest being winning not one, but two district titles.
Now she has only one item left to check off her list: a Class 4A state gold medal.
Lord won two more individual titles last week at the 4A Bi-District II/IV championships in Vancouver, as the Redmond girls took second in the team competition. It was the final meet before this weekend’s state tournament, where Lord comes in with the second best Class 4A 3,200 meter time in the state.
Lord and sophomore teammate Devin McMahon went 1-2 in the 3,200 meters at the district meet, with Lord finishing in 11 minutes, 15.94 second and McMahon finishing in 11:16.03.
Lord, who also won two events at the district meet last year, said a big key to this season was that she started working in unison with McMahon, where the two runners take turns setting the pace.
“Coach Villeneuve really put an emphasis on Devin and I work together,” Lord said. “So it was really nice having a teammate working together, instead of last year when it was just me.”
Lord also won the 1,600 at 5:09.81. McMahon (5:16.22) and sophomore Jillian Jaccard (5:20.00) finished third and fourth respectively in the same race.
Lord and Jaccard teamed with Jenny Light and Erin Handschin to place second in the 1,600 relay with 4:05.37, right behind Inglemoor.
Redmond also finished second to Inglemoor in both the boys and girls team titles at the bi-district meet. The Lord-led girls finished in with 78 points, with Inglemoor taking the title with 104.
Not to be outdone, the boys team finished with 74 points, behind Inglemoor’s 88. The boys team was also led by its distance runners, with Anthony Ellis and Aiden Irish taking individual titles. Ellis won the 1,600 at 4:21.16 and Irish blew away the field in the 3,200 at 9:44.00. The next closest competitor was Bothell’s Trey Parry at 9:53.25.
The 4A state championships are this Friday and Saturday at Edgar Brown Stadium in Pasco, and Lord said she expects herself and McMahon to continue to aid each other.
“In the two mile, I’m hoping to win, and get in the 10:40 range for time,” Lord said. “And then in the mile, top five.”
Ally Mueller (javelin) and Amy Sturdivant (pole vault) will join Lord, McMahon and Jaccard as individual participants at state after placing in the top four at districts.
The other boys moving on to state are: Allen Hall (100), Mack Young (1,600), Dan Sanders (300 hurdles), Jimmy Brookman (javelin) and 400 relay team (Felipe Colmenares, Hall, Cole Hardwick, Branden McNair).
LW’s Hanson sprints to state meet
Lake Washington’s Matt Hanson will be traveling to the 4A state track and field meet this Friday and Saturday in Pasco after finishing second in the 100 (11.02 seconds) and fourth in the 200 (22.85) at last week’s district meet.
Lake Washington’s Tim Hobbs missed the cut in the 800 by one second and teammate Ian Story missed the cut by less than two tenths of a second in the 110 hurdles.
Lake Washington girls who advanced to state include: Alix Boyd, who finished fourth in the 800; Brieccia Lewis (100 hurdles), and Lacy Newbold and Molly Enger in the 300 hurdles.
