By Chase Porter
Staff Writer
In the midst of the Austin heat, senior Elizabeth Kerpon lined up on the starting line for the 400-meter dash, and 54.19 seconds later, she was a state champion.
The Texas UIL state track meet was held May 15 at the University of Texas at Austin. Kerpon recorded the best time in the tournament to win her first career state title in a race.
In addition to winning the 400-meter dash, Kerpon also ran the 1,600-meter reay along with Chiamaka Ukoha 11, Valerie Osamor 10, and Olivia Wolford 10, placing eighth, and junior Haley Cook placed seventh in pole vault.
“We tried to do the same kind of workouts but instead of doing a lot of reps we just tried to push each other and go faster because we all knew these were some of our last high school races,” Kerpon said.
Past experience also helped her through the race. Last year, Kerpon competed for the 400-meter dash but was unable to win. This year she was less stressed about the race and just wanted to win, leaving no regrets behind.
“Last year, Elizabeth had the ‘deer in the headlights’ look when we arrived at the stadium,” coach Roxanne Farris said. “This year was totally different. She was on a mission to win. She even texted me days before saying, ‘I’m going to win.”
Kerpon contributes a lot of her readiness to the fact that she knew what to expect from her race last year. Kerpon and the rest of the girls also tried to keep the mood as light as possible so that there was absolutely no stress when race time came.
During the championship, competitors from each district filled nine lanes of the track. Kerpon’s previous race had a time of 54.10 seconds, which was faster than any of the other competitors, but Kerpon did not have to break this time to win the race. Kerpon won with an astounding 54.19 seconds but did not really realize that she won until she watched it on the big screen.
“I didn’t know if I won or not when I crossed the finish line so I waited until they showed it on the jumbotron,” Kerpon said. “I was so realized when I saw that I won because I really wanted to win and I was really tired.”
This moment was an extremely memorable moment for both Kerpon and Farris.
“Elizabeth is my first state champion in 15 years of coaching. I was shaking after the race with pure excitement. It’s something I will never forget,” Farris said.
Next year, with Kerpon graduating, Farris knows the other runners will have to step up to fill her shoes. Farris is confident in her underclassmen because they now have competed in some important races and will be able to perform even better in the coming years.
Kerpon received offers from Wake Forest and Vanderbilt to run track but ultimately chose Duke University. At Duke, she will compete in the same events she has done in the past the 400 and the 1,600 relay along with possibly competing in a hurdles event.
