By Tim Wester
Sports Correspondent
After failing to qualify for the WIAA State Track and Field finals the past two seasons, Union Grove junior hurdler Alex Goodrich finally got to experience the intensity of a final race last Friday, June 5.
And the result left Goodrich eager to get another shot next season.
Goodrich finished ninth in the state with a time of 46.71 in the 300 hurdles finals after posting a school-record time of 45.49 in the preliminaries.
“Alex ran a personal record time of 45.41 and was sitting sixth in the finals,” Union Grove track and field coach Jen Maier said. “In the finals, she got out to a good start, but then the fatigue from running back to back days caught up to her.”
“Alex was really happy with her performance on Friday, but was obviously disappointed on Saturday,” Maier added. “But I just reminded her that her goal was to make the finals after not advancing in the preliminaries the last two seasons.”
Goodrich didn’t have quite as much success in the 100 hurdles.
The junior hurdler finished 19th in the preliminaries with a time of 15.91.
“Alex obviously wasn’t happy with her 100 hurdles,” Maier said. “During the race, she hit a hurdle and that threw her off. Once you hit a hurdle, you can’t get back on track after that.”
Overall, Maier was pleased with Goodrich’s effort, and has already formulated a plan with her standout athlete for a revised offseason training regimen.
“We’ve already talked about a plan for what we want to do to get Alex to where she needs to be for next year,” Maier said. “Getting to the finals was a good experience for her to understand what she needs to do so she’ll be ready for next year.”
With three years of state championship experience and a new training program, Goodrich looks to take another step in her quest for a state championship next season.
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