Rockford Lutheran’s star senior Abagail Baumann is ready to lead a hard charge to the finish line.
She will run cross country and track and field at Michigan Tech University in Houghton, Michigan, starting this fall, but first she wants to finish off what has already been a successful high school career, and in a big way. In fact, headed into next week’s Big Northern Conference meet Thursday at Winnebago, she’s taking aim at the elusive “quadruple,” and she wants to finish with a tough “double” at state.
“This is my chance,” she recently said. “I want to go after a triple, maybe even a quadruple, at conference, and then that double at state.”
Baumann is talking about not only running the 800-, 1,600- and 3,200-meter runs, as well as the distance relay at the Big Northern Conference track and field meet Thursday in Winnebago. But winning them.
She has the third fastest time in Class 2A in the 1,600 run (4:59.19) this season; she has the fifth fastest time in 2A in the 3,200 run (10:53.44) this year; and she has the sixth fastest time in the 800 run (2:16.46). And that’s in the state of Illinois, according to athletic.net.
Baumann holds the school record for all three distances, and she also ran just over a 1:02 in the 400 run earlier this year.
After taking sixth in the 3,200 run and seventh in the 1,600 run at state ― both last year and the year before ― she knows what her focus will be on down the stretch, though.
And she’s really looking to break out this postseason.
“It’s important for me to be happy with the times that I run, mainly, because it’s always me against the clock,” said Baumann, who also took seventh in the state cross country race earlier this school year. “But sure, I want to move up.”
Lutheran also has state-medal hopefuls in sprinters Gaby Davis and Jordyn Ballard. Davis took seventh in the 200 dash last year at state. They all hope to be very busy the next three weeks.
“I think they’re all super ready for this,” Lutheran head coach Karen Jensen said. “They’re just excited to see what they can do. We all are.”
Track kicks off spring postseasons
The postseason for all spring sports starts with the girls track and field conference meets. The NIC-10 girls meet will kick it all off at 4 p.m. Wednesday at Guilford, when stars like high jumpers Jaeda Benford of Auburn, Jordan Dimke of Hononegah and Zariah Burnett of Guilford, and like Freeport sprinters Ta’Leiah and Ta’Niah McElroy and Boylan distance runners, led by Nora Wedwick, Gabby Kohnle, Elle Sosnowski and Vanessa Tekampe, start to shine.
Baumann expects to be one of those shining the brightest when it’s all over. And those that watch her train can see why.
“I’m just impressed with her poise, and her self motivation,” Jensen said. “She’s just attacking it this year.”
Lutheran will race against the 2A competition, and it really heats up when the Rockford-area 2A teams go after state bids at the Johnsburg Sectional on May 13. The 3A teams will be competing at the Belvidere North Sectional on May 13, and the local 1A squads will look for state berths through the Winnebago Sectional on the same day.
The top two finishers in each event, as well as those that eclipse the state standard times and distances, will advance to state. The girls state track and field meet will be held from May 21-23 in Charleston, and will be the first state tournament of the spring season.
Jay Taft is a Rockford Register Star sports reporter. Email him at jtaft@rrstar.com and sign up for the Rockford High School Sports Newsletter here at rrstar.com. Jay has covered a variety of sports, from the Chicago Bears and Blackhawks to local youth sports, since the turn of the century at the Register Star.
This article originally appeared on Rockford Register Star: Lutheran’s Abagail Baumann leads charge into track and field postseason
Reporting by Jay Taft, Rockford Register Star / Rockford Register Star
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