Turn Back The Clock Tuesday: Hart Sets 400m State Record
Today we turn back the clock to the 2015 Class A Outdoor Track & Field State championship held at Mt Ararat High School. The girls 400m featured three athletes with sub-60-second performances under their belt in the 2015 regular season.
Freshman Alexandra Hart of Thornton Academy was the top seed with a 58.20, while Elisabeth Redwood of Bonny Eagle was the second seed with a 59.25, and Cheverus sophomore Emily Turner was the third seed with a 59.76.
The race itself was very competitive with Hart getting off to a fast start in the first 100m making up the stagger on Redwood as they hit the backstretch. Hart would continue to push on the backstretch opening up a 3-5 meter lead at the 200m mark. Redwood made a strong move with 200m to go to almost immediately erase Hart's lead. The two were even coming off the final turn, but Hart maintained her form all the way to the finish.
Hart crossed the finish line in a new personal best 56.87, that mark broke the two-year-old record mark of 57.0 set by Teal Jackson of Brewer at the 2013 Class A state meet. The time set a new Maine state record as well surpassing the 56.95 mark by Kaitlin Saulter of Hermon. Turner of Cheverus finished second in 59.02, as she passed Redwood who unfortunately ran out of gas 10 meters from the finish and collapsed.
Earlier in the meet, Alexandra finished second in the 100m (13.0) and then came back after the 200m to win another state title (25.95).
Hart only competed one more year in track and then gave up the sport. Turner would go on to set a new 400m state record the next season winning the 2016 race in 56.57 over Redwood who clocked a 56.77.
Results
1 Alexandra Hart FR Thornton 56.87R 4 10 2 Emily Turner SO Cheverus 59.02 4 8 3 Felicity Palmer JR Bangor 1:00.16 4 6 4 Jazlyn Dumas SO Lewiston 1:00.90 3 4 5 Austin Taylor SO Nokomis 1:02.40 4 3 6 Mairead Laliberte FR Oxford Hills 1:02.78 3 2 7 Amanda Turner SO Windham 1:03.09 3 1 8 Haley Bantz SR Massabesic 1:03.13 4 9 Julia Rand SR Windham 1:03.16 4 10 Maggie Redman FR Massabesic 1:03.19 3 11 Karisa Lambertson SR Massabesic 1:03.24 3 12 Ayla Sheets SR Windham 1:03.60 3 13 Summer Gray JR Mt. Ararat 1:03.66 2 14 Lily Munro SO Brunswick 1:03.95 2 15 Sara Topalovic SO Falmouth 1:04.06 2 16 Kyra Teboe FR Brunswick 1:04.09 3 17 Ann Grabowski SO Noble 1:04.88 1 18 Madison Perry FR Biddeford 1:04.92 2 19 Marcy Kittredge JR Falmouth 1:05.50 2 20 Leah Shea JR Hawks 1:06.12 2 21 Leah St. Laurent JR Mt. Blue 1:06.35 2 22 Janey Blackwell-Orr SR South Portland 1:06.51 1 23 Morgan Griffin FR Noble 1:06.53 3 24 Madhuri Leslie FR Windham 1:07.59 1 25 Elisabeth Redwood SO Bonny Eagle 1:09.69 4
Hart talks about her day