State Champion spotlight: Henry Quesada NYA

Mar 21, 2016

State Champion spotlight: Henry Quesada NYA

Junior Henry Quesada of NYA led the 800m wire to wire to win the Class B state title. Quesada controlled the race from the front & pulled away for the victory. We caught up with him to ask about his preparations, his race strategy, & his plan for the outdoor season.

What were your preparations leading up to the state meet?

We tried to keep our preparations leading up to the state meet similar to a normal week in the season. We did a tune-up workout on Tuesday where we focused on short and fast stuff and the rest of the week consisted of just long and easy runs.

How did you deal with the pressure and emotions that come along with competing in a state meet?

To deal with the pressure of the state meet I tried to keep my mind off the race as much as I could until I got on the line. Instead of thinking about how nervous I was, I thought about how well training had gone in the weeks leading up to state meet. I just tired to stay as relaxed as I could until it was time to warm up.

You entered the state meet as the #2 seed, and ended up moving up to the top spot. Talk about your race, did it go according to plan? At what point did you make the decisive move, and what does it mean to be the state champion?

Coming into the race I wasn't sure how it was going to play out. I didn't know if anybody wanted to lead so I decided I would see what happened when the gun went off. I got boxed in on the first turn and decided the only way to recover was to swing wide and move into the lead. I ran from the front and tried to push the pace as much as I could. It meant a lot to win especially considering how strong the field was at states.

Coming into the season what were your goals and did you achieve them?

Coming into the season I didn't really have any specific times goals I just wanted to be as competitive as I could in all the races I was in.

How do you think winning an individual state title will effect you heading into outdoors?

My indoor season gives me a lot to build off of for outdoor. I stayed healthy which was the main goal and winning at states boosted my confidence a lot. I hope I can stay healthy and run some fast times outdoors.

800m Progression

INDOOR	Graph
2016	2:03.17
2015	2:06.28

2015-16 Results

2016	SEASON	EVENT	MEET	DATE	PLACE	ROUND
2:44.24	Indoor	1000m	29th New England Indoor Track & Field Championships	Feb 28, 2016	25th	Finals	>
2:03.59	Indoor	800m	Class B Indoor State Championship	Feb 13, 2016	1st	Finals	>
53.85	Indoor	400m	WMC: Wells, Lake Region, Frye PRHS, Traip, NYA, Cape, Lisbon	Jan 29, 2016	1st	Finals	>
11:18.94	Indoor	2Mile	WMC: Wells, Lake Region, Frye PRHS, Traip, NYA, Cape, Lisbon	Jan 29, 2016	3rd	Finals	>
2:03.17	Indoor	800m	WMC: Yarmouth, Wells, NYA,Frye,Greely, PRHS,Sacopee, St Doms	Jan 22, 2016	2nd	Finals	>
4:46.04	Indoor	Mile	WMC:Wells, PRHS,Traip, Falm, Frye, NYA,Sac Valley, York, St Doms	Jan 15, 2016	2nd	Finals	>
4:45.82	Indoor	Mile	WMC:Cape, Greely , Freeport, Frye, LR, NYA, Wells, St Dom's	Jan 8, 2016	1st	Finals	>
2015	SEASON	EVENT	MEET	DATE	PLACE	ROUND
2:07.09	Indoor	800m	WMC:Wells, GNG, PRHS, Yarmouth, NYA, Lake Region, Sacopee Valley	Dec 18, 2015	1st	Finals	>