PREP ROUNDUP: Wood adds to record track campaign
Photo courtesy of RICHARD WOOD Post Falls junior Sammie Wood and Kuna junior Malia Lowe race to the finish line during the 1,600-meter run at the Knight Invitational on Saturday at Bishop Kelly High in Boise.
TRACK AND FIELD
BOISE — With the bigger picture in mind, Post Falls junior Sammie Wood headed south for the Knight Invitational at Bishop Kelly High with eyes on a successful return trip to the Treasure Valley in a few weeks.
Wood, who won the 3,200-meter run in 11 minutes, 5.17 seconds on Friday, added a win in the 800 in a school record 2:15.98 and broke another school record with a runner-up finish in the 1,600 on Saturday.
In the 1,600, she finished in 5:03.41 behind Kuna’s Malia Lowe, who won the race in 5:03.38. Both times broke the meet record of Boise’s Eve Jensen (5:05.49) set in 2016.
“It was the first time all year that she wasn’t alone at the front of the pack for the entirety of the race,” Post Falls distance coach Jessie Ward said of Wood. “Malia sat right on her shoulder for three laps and then passed her with 400 meters to go. Sammie fought back in the last 100 and got second by .03 seconds. It was good for her to have to compete for the win, and not getting it today was probably the best motivator she could ever get.”
Wood’s time broke the school record (5:03.87) she set earlier this year at the Sweeney Invitational in Lewiston on April 16.
Then, the 800 came.
“She was more nervous than I have seen her all year,” Ward said. “Again, I think this was good for her, because she had to figure out how to control it and get to the start line ready to go. I could tell as soon as the gun went off that the nerves were gone. She looked very relaxed and controlled the race the whole way, getting a huge gap on the field right from the start.”
The previous meet record in the 800 was set by Sara Christianson of Borah (2:17.70) in 2016. Wood broke the school record (2:16.03) at the Sandpoint Inland Empire League meet on April 13.
Temperatures were in the 70s during the meet on Saturday.
“The goal of coming down to race in Boise this weekend was to get ready for the state meet (May 21-22 at Eagle High) in three weeks,” Ward said. “With the hot weather, running all three distance events in two days, and finally having some tough competition, it was a big learning experience for her. She ran three personal records, two school records and one meet record under more challenging conditions than she’s faced all year. It is a huge confidence boost for her going into regionals and state in a few weeks.”
Zach Johnson of Lake City placed second in the 100 (11.16) and 200 (22.96), and was fourth in the long jump (20-4 1/4).
Madeline Wolford of Lake City placed fourth in the discus (116-3).