The next time you mention St. Paul’s Allie Barton, don’t forget to add Class S State Champion. Barton claimed the 55-meter hurdle title last Thursday, crossing the finish in 8.90 seconds.
Heading into last Thursday’s Class S State Championship meet, Barton was seeded second, after her sub-9 second during the 55 hurdles at the NVL Conference Championship.
Barton was even seeded third after preliminaries at the state meet, but managed to dig deep and claim another victory.
She said after the preliminary race she envisioned herself crossing the finish line first, just as she did at conferences. She said that feeling, that rush, the smile and the adrenaline was enough to give her that added boost to go out and race her hardest.
“I just kept envisioning myself doing it and it came true,” Barton said. “This was my goal that I have worked for all season. I had to prove it to myself and to my coach that I could reach my goal.”
Barton said despite being ranked second coming into state and then from second to third, the race had more to do with herself than anyone else. She said she just focused on her own race.
“I worry about beating myself and getting a better time more than beating other people,” she said. “After NVLs, I watched that video almost 100 times to see what I could correct and to improve my time. I really just wanted to run sub-nine time again.”
Next up, Barton will be heading to the State Open on Saturday to compete against the top athletes in the state. She said with making the finals not being a guarantee she is just going to give it her all and run her fastest.
However, she said it’s a blessing to just be there.
“It’s a dream come true,” she said. “Freshman year me would be so proud and so shocked because I used to look up to these girls.”
Also attending the state open this weekend is St. Paul’s Tyler Turner. At the Class S State Championship, Turner finished second in the long jump and fifth in the 300 dash with both times being personal bests.
He said overall although it wasn’t first place his performance shows the hard work and progress that he has made throughout the season.
“I’m just executed to see what I can do for the next meet,” he said. “I’ve been surprising myself this season so I might as well just keep going to see what I can get out of it.”
He said to have his name amongst the best in the state at the state open is “exciting.”
“It shows that all the hard work has paid off,” he said. “I feel like I have really matured in the sport and have been able to take in everything that’s going on so I really do find a lot of excitement in this upcoming meet.”
