Chown finishes career at state track & field meet

By Jeff Yoder
Posted 5/24/22

A pair of Lone Tree freshmen experienced the state track & field meet for the first time over the weekend, while senior Kasey Chown wrapped up an outstanding athletic career by finishing 16th in …

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Chown finishes career at state track & field meet

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A pair of Lone Tree freshmen experienced the state track & field meet for the first time over the weekend, while senior Kasey Chown wrapped up an outstanding athletic career by finishing 16th in the high jump on Saturday. 

“It’s exciting, definitely a big accomplishment,” Chown said about making it to the state meet. “My goal was just to clear the starting height, and I did, so I’m pretty happy with that.”

Twenty of the 24 participants were able to clear the starting height. Chown was one of 15 that cleared 4-9 with just one attempt.  

“I am really proud of her,” coach Chad Shield said. “She looked very confident, calm, and collected at opening height and was able to get it on her first jump.  She did a great job leading a couple anxious freshmen in Rylee (Shield) and Vivian (Zaruba) throughout the week too and letting them know what to expect.”

Chown ran in the distance medley at the state meet as a freshman in 2019. 

Shield overcame her nerves in the opening race to finish 19th in the 200-meter dash with a time of 27.89.

“I was so nervous,” she said. “I was shaking and I kept checking my heart rate, trying to get it to go down, but it was awesome. I love this track and it’s so much fun to run on.”

In the afternoon, she took 21st in the 400 with a finish of 1:03.07. She ran her second-fastest career time in each race. 

“In the 200, it was great to see her beat both girls that she finished behind at districts,” Shield said about his daughter. “In the 400, she ran a solid time and finished the race strong despite a gusty wind into her face.”

 She was one of just three freshmen, in any class, to qualify for the state meet in at least two of the sprint (100-400) races.

“It was a great first experience for her and she was able to get the nerves out of her system and I think it will help fuel her for bigger goals in the future,” Shield said. “I was ecstatic for her and the season she had.”

Zaruba also made her state meet debut and handled her nerves as well, running a new personal record time of 2:33.83 to finish 21st in the 800. 

“I was really nervous, but once I got started, I kind of forgot about it,” she said. “My legs kind of hurt at the end, but I tried to push myself.”

She was happy with her finish after the race on Saturday morning. 

“I PR-ed, that’s what I came here to do,” she said. 

Shield said that Zaruba managed the adrenaline that comes from the state meet atmosphere and followed the plan in her 800. 

“She ran a very confident race,” Shield said. “She was able to sustain her pace and hit all of the 200 pace marks we had set for her and competed very well.  It was not easy for her being up there watching for two days, trying to find a place to get a good workout in, and then finally having her opportunity on Saturday morning in not ideal weather conditions.  However, she is very tough minded and I felt handled her first experience really well.”

Most of the members of the Lone Tree girls track team were among the 13,896 who attended the state meet on Thursday 

“We had a great turnout on Thursday to experience the blue oval and cheer on our Lone Tree participants,” Shield said. “Nearly every girl on our track team made the trip and to experience that atmosphere in person will motivate them going forward. I would like to thank our school administrators for letting the trip happen, as well as Mr. Render for chaperoning the trip.”