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Link to Daily news minor Article
FAIRBANKS — Lizzy Bennett already had state medals from
her high school cross country and swimming careers. The Monroe
Catholic senior was lacking medals from track and field.
Her medals collection doesn’t have a gap after her
accomplishments on Saturday in the girls Class 1A-2A-3A portion of
the ASAA/First National Bank State Track and Field Championships at
Lathrop High School.
Bennett rallied for a 300-meter hurdles victory in 49.90 seconds,
placed third in the 800 in 2:26.58, and anchored the second-place
4x800 relay (10:26.44) and the winning 4x400 (4:23.74).
Her accomplishments also helped the Rams, who have only 10 girls
this year, place third in the team standings at 61 points. It was
the highest finish overall in the state meet for a school in the
Interior, which hosted the meet for the sixth straight year.
Lathrop is scheduled to host again next year.
“We wanted to make a good showing, and it’s my senior
year,” Bennett said. “We’re against Grace
Christian, and Anchorage Christian is a big powerhouse. We’ve
got some really good girls here and I wanted to show what Monroe is
made of.”
Bennett burst past Karley Madren of ACS during the last 20 meters
of the 300 hurdles.
“I was having problems with my stride and attacking the
hurdles,” she said. “So I wanted to make sure that I
didn’t chop up and attack every hurdle. I basically wanted to
sprint out and don’t give up and don’t give
in.”
Bennett’s burst was geared toward adding to the Rams’
points total.
“(Madren is) from Anchorage Christian ... so the more points
for us, the better,” Bennett said. “My coach said we
need as many points as you can get, so do your best. I saw her, and
adrenaline took over.”
While Monroe’s 4x400 was anchored by Bennett, it was
freshman Macala Fifield who ignited the Rams’ title effort by
finishing first on the opening leg. Senior siblings Nicole and
Megan Schreder ran the second and third legs.
“Our coach gave us a really good talk before the race and
said we had a really good chance of taking first,” said
Fifield, who also placed second in the 1,600 run (5:37.38).
“We should take first because this is the senior year relay
for the most part and I wanted to let them get a goal for their
senior year. So, I went out there and ran as well as I
could.”
The quartet also comprised Monroe’s 4x800 relay.
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