OMAHA -- When Gabi Gracia takes off running, she has no one to talk to.
Except herself.
The Holdrege sophomore’s one-sided conversations turned golden this weekend at the Nebraska High School State Track and Field Championships.
After winning the 3,200 Friday, Gracia won the 1,600 Saturday at Omaha Burke Stadium by posting a winning time of 5:07.02, while Haley Harsin of Syracuse finished second more than seven seconds behind her.
“This time was a surprise for me because I’ve never gotten under 5:10. My best before is 5:13, so it’s really nice to get under that mark I could never get under,” Gracia said. “I wanted to get first, and I wanted to get under 5:10.”
Last year as a freshman, Gracia finished second in the 1,600 and 3,200 behind Aubrey Worden of Scottsbluff. Worden graduated to run at Florida State and left a legacy of outstanding distance performances.
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“She’s the person I look up to because she has the records for this state, and she’s just a good all-around runner,” Gracia said.
Worden’s times are what Gracia wants to equal.
“But she was also a senior when she did that, so that’s the time I’m going to strive for during my junior and senior years,” she said.
Gracia has to do much of her running alone. She often has insurmountable leads by the end of the first lap. Saturday was no exception.
“I have to talk to myself. I tell myself, ‘They’re right behind you, you need to go, you need to go,’” she said.
She also listens to the crowd.
“I listen for names. I knew the girl, her name was Haley, because my team has been watching for her all season. I listened for her name, and I listened for the Lex girls’ names. … Once I pass that group of people, I listen to how much longer it is until they start yelling for them. I use the crowd as my help,” Gracia said.
Lexington’s Vanessa Ambriz finished 11th, while the Minutemaids’ Odaliz Santoyo-Garcia finished ninth. Santoyo-Garcia won the state cross country championship.
The Lexington girls are familiar to Gracia. They have run against each other several times this year. Saturday, Gracia had to pay more attention to the Lexington runners because she and the Dusters battled the Minutemaids for the team title.
“When I’m running, I just think about my team, and I need to do this for my team. I don’t think about myself and I don’t think about my time. It’s all about my team,” Gracia said.
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