Missouri State Track Meet 2013 - Gallatin High School

 

No Stalling, Records Falling: Bulldogs are Great at State

 

The Gallatin athletes arrived at Willis T. Reed Stadium wearing their lime green warm-up shirts that read “Turbo 10”. On the back, there was a quote: “We don’t take breaks, we just break records”. That couldn’t have been any closer to the truth.

 

Friday began with Kaitlyn McNeely in the pole vault and Kylie Cameron in the discus. McNeely cleared eight and a half feet to place thirteenth. Alisa Frey of Brookfield took first place with a vault of eleven feet. Cameron placed fourteenth in the discus. Her first throw of 97-09 was the best of her three attempts. Sophia Rivera of Brentwood placed first with a throw of 124-04.

 

The girls 4x800m relay, consisting of Kailey Salmon, Madison Rounkles, Kailey Elbert, and Sara Lin, broke the school record with a time of 9:43.30. This time was five seconds faster than the previous record that was set at last year’s state meet. Despite their record-breaking performance, the girls finished runner-up to Lutheran St. Peters who finished in 9:41.73.

 

“I just wanted to stay at the top of the pack to give us a chance to finish well,” Salmon said of her strategy as the first leg. Rounkles battled Herculaneum’s Kaitlyn Fischer for the duration of her leg. “I felt her coming up on me, but I just kept running the way I always do.”

 

“All I was thinking about was keeping the lead,” Elbert said. “When my girl passed me, I tried to keep it as close as possible for when I handed off to Sara.” Lin began the anchor leg in a dead heat with Herculaneum, but Courtney Rogers of Lutheran St. Peters mounted a furious comeback. According to mshsaa.org, Rogers ran a 2:14.64 split. “She had a big kick,” Lin said of Rogers, “but I ran as hard as I could to help our team finish well.”

 

Later that day, Isaac Mattis made the podium in the pole vault. He cleared twelve feet to finish in sixth place. The pole vault pit was directly in front of the crowd, but the close proximity to the roaring fans didn’t seem to bother Mattis. “I didn’t really notice the crowd,” Mattis said. “When I’m on the runway, I just see the blue mat at the end.” First place belonged to Austin Cooling of Principia who vaulted 13-09.

 

The girls 4x200m relay of McNeely, Kaitlyn Hefley, Rounkles, and Elbert failed to qualify for finals, but ran a solid time of 1:57.02.

Salmon kicked things off for Gallatin on Saturday in the 1600m run. She finished fourth with a time of 5:24.03. “I was going to run as hard as I could and go for a new personal record,” Salmon said of her mindset before the race. The competition formed a tight group and left little room for Salmon to operate. “I kept getting boxed in and had to go around people.” Courtney Rogers of

Lutheran St. Peters broke away from the pack to claim first with a time of 5:05.57.

 

Lin and Salmon both competed in the 800m run. Just like the 1600m run, the competitors in this race were evenly matched. Sassie Matzen of Brookfield eventually distanced herself from the rest of the competitors, winning with the time of 2:16.04. Lin ran a 2:21.33 and finished fifth. Salmon placed eighth, running a 2:27.33.

 

“My plan was to go out fast and run the first lap in 1:06,” Lin said of her race strategy. “I knew Savannah Beaver was going to start her kick on the first curve of the second lap and I tried to anticipate it. I ended up stuck in a group after the first curve. After that, I tried to catch up and use everything that I had left.”

 

One hour removed from the 1600m run, it was obvious that Salmon was still fatigued, but she wasn’t going to let that stop her from giving it her all. “I knew it would be tough, but I also knew that other girls who ran the mile were in this race too. I was going to try to hang with everybody and see what happened.”

 

Salmon, Rounkles, Elbert, and Lin also broke the 4x400m relay school record. Their preliminary qualifying time of 4:08.90 was two seconds faster than the previous record. Lin later said that the record was discussed before the race. “We knew that if we broke the record then we would be in the finals.”

 

The relay ran a 4:11.65 in the finals to take fifth place. Lutheran St. Peters claimed first with a time of 4:06.91. This was the only event of the day for Elbert and Rounkles who both provided an energy boost. Elbert passed five runners on the backstretch to move into second, all within fifty meters. “I was nervous when I first saw the group of runners ahead, but once I got past them, it felt like a good run,” Elbert said. “I just ran as hard as I could today,” Rounkles added. “I was ready to go.”

 

The girls said they surprised themselves by how far they managed to take the 4x400m relay. “We came out of nowhere,” Lin said. “Making it this far was so unexpected.”

 

“At districts, we were talking about how we wanted to see how far we could take this relay just for the fun of it,” Salmon said.

“I’m proud of my teammates and our accomplishments this year,” Elbert said, taking a look back at the season in a broader scope.

 

The Gallatin athletes lived up to their Turbo 10 nickname and their performances caught as much attention as their brightly colored shirts.