Bonny Eagle senior Elisabeth Redwood would rather not remember last year's Maine Class A State Championship. Redwood advanced to the final in the 400m dash, but those title chances came to a halt when while leading she fell just 50 meters short of the finish. She says getting knocked down is a part of life and it's how you pick yourself up that matters the most.
"I mean it happens to all of us. I saw the time I could get last year and I've worked really hard for it. I'm sort of glad it happened though because I've achieved so much with the drive I found within myself. Hopefully things go smoother this year in the 400m than it did last. I'm really working towards my first outdoor title and I've been putting in the hours to get there."
The grind started in the fall during the Scots cross country season. Redwood ran a personal best of 20:27.87 to place 7th at the Maine Class A State XC Championship and help Bonny Eagle to the state championship. She says her success on the cross country course gave her confidence heading into this outdoor season.
"I had no idea I'd thrive so much in cross country. I don't think the younger girls realize how good they are even though more than half of us placed in the top 30. After cross country people really started looking at me as a more flexible runner which was flattering because I never thought I'd be doing anything longer than a 400 or being good at the 5k."
Redwood, a native of Jamaica who moved to the states when she was seven years old and idolizes the likes of Shelly-Ann Fraser-Price and Sanya Richards-Ross, hopes to set records of her own. In 2016, she discovered her self motivation and ability to feed off losses, and make sure they don't happen again. In a combined seven races in the 200 and 400m dash she has won six and finished second once setting new personal bests of 26.10 and 57.33 in both events. She says her senior year to this point has been amazing.
"I never really saw myself as the athlete I am today especially one that qualified for nationals and holds two indoor state records. I've been keeping my goal for the 400 low key, but yes I'm going for the record which is currently 56.87 held my Alex Hart. Breaking it would sum up everything I've worked for. I'm trying not to jinx it though!"
The University of Maine signee hasn't changed her training regiment over the past four years adding that her workouts have been a combination of all three seasons of running the past school year. She says it just feels more intense, but knows it will pay off in the final weeks.
"The lift sessions, work outs, the expectations my coach sets for me and my teammates are all tough. Leading up to the state meet we've been doing a lot of 200s, 250s and 300 repeats. I've also been working a lot on my mindset going into the race and my thoughts in the blocks (which is usually me praying I don't fall)."
Her favorite workout though is called the "wicked drill" and in New England you better believe it's wicked hard."
"We have to run over speed hurdles and cones. It's more apart of the warm up, but it really helped a lot at the 300 mark in the race when I have to kick into my turnover."
As satisfying as individual titles would be for Redwood, the captain of the Scots realizes the plethora of talent behind her. She says their high energy and confidence will be key towards their shot at a team championship.
"They're all so good, but just need the confidence to execute going into the race. I'm really excited to see where they are senior year because right now they have no limits. Looking at our chances it's pretty impressive. Most of our points are coming from the freshman which means for the next three years they're going to keep making an impression. We don't have a large team or one that dominates in field events but we have a lot spirit and energy that shows on the track."
For Redwood, her favorite event is the last one of the day, the 4x400m relay. She feels its the most fun to watch, plus she likes the fact that all her teammates are competing as well, and sharing in the pain. The race could determine the outcome of the meet and the first state championship for Bonny Eagle since 2011. She says before each state meet the girls perform a secret ritual, but she's not telling everything.
"To get pumped for races the girls would dance and have a special ritual before every meet and a motivational speech before every state meet. I'll give you a hint it involves some dancing,and a talking animalThis is the secret to how records are broken. We've been runner ups for awhile now in track, no spilling secrets!"
One thing that isn't a secret. With the individual success Redwood has had in her four year high school career, she says an outdoor team title would mean the most.
"Winning cross country was great, but track is my home. Winning a team title for outdoor would be amazing. The points really matter this year and everyone is just so good. Winning the team title would mean more to me only because it's been so long and it'd feel so good knowing all our work as a team finally paid off. Getting a state record is great, but it's always going be broken. Winning states would mean we're the best of 2016."
