Hollister – One more meet. One last chance for Haybaler glory.
The CIF State Championships, which begin today in Norwalk, Calif., mark Amanda’s Boyd’s final competition as a San Benito runner. Already the school’s record-holder in all of the distance events, the Northern Arizona-bound senior added another feather in her cap by qualifying for State in a different event than she did as a junior.
After advancing in 2005 as the Central Coast Section’s runner-up in the 3200-meter race, Boyd took second in the 1600 at the CCS Finals last Friday to punch her ticket to Norwalk. Her time of 5:01.22 was a PR and set a new San Benito mark.
Asked how her experience at the State meet as a junior will help her this season, Boyd said, “I know what to expect. I know these girls aren’t messing around.”
She also said athletes have a tendency to make the prestigious meet even bigger than it is.
“It’s just a big meet with a name that a lot of girls get scared of,” said Boyd, who finished 18th in the 3200 last season. “I know it’s just a race to better your times.”
Not surprisingly, Boyd has a time drop at the front of her mind heading into tonight’s preliminaries.
“Obviously, I want to break 5:00,” Boyd related. “I want to do more than 5:00; get comfortably under 5:00 – like 4:57 … well, 4:59. I want to end my high school on a good note. I want to do that for me. For myself.”
One notable difference between the 3200 and 1600-meter events at the CIF State Championships is that the 3200 is a finals-only event – a one-time competition on Saturday – whereas the 1600 includes a preliminaries race as well. In order to have a shot at the finals in the 1600, Boyd essentially needs to record a top-nine time in tonight’s preliminaries. The top-three finishers from each of the two preliminaries heats and the next three fastest runners advance to the finals.
Whereas breaking the five-minute barrier would have vaulted Boyd into the finals in each of the past two years, it appears that she will need an even larger time-drop to crack Saturday’s competition. This season marks an exceptionally strong 1600-meter field, a group that includes five 2005 finalists and each of the top-three finishers from last season.
“They’ve never had a field this strong, ever, coming into the finals,” San Benito distance coach Jess Morales said. “That says a lot right there.”
Boyd’s qualifying time of 5:01.22 landed her the 20th seed in the preliminaries. The ninth seed, Kauren Tarver of Serrano High (Southern Section), took third place in last year’s finals. Tarver enters the preliminaries with a qualifying time of 4:56.49.
Knowing that she likely needs a comparable time to advance, Boyd she believes she’s capable of that mark.
“There’s no reason why the 5, 6, 7 spot, the 4:56 pace, that I can’t handle it,” Boyd said.
After seeing his pupil excel thanks to a fast start at the CCS Finals, Morales said Boyd needs to focus on staying with the pace-setters in the beginning.
“We’ve been working a lot on the starts,” Morales said. “She’s going to have to be aggressive … and go with the people at the start. If they do go out fast in the 800, that would be good for her style of racing.”
“I’m not really too worried about her trying to break that 5:00 (mark). If she goes out with that group, it’ll happen,” the ‘Balers’ distance coach continued. “Those girls will get her there.”
With her distinguished San Benito career at its peak, Boyd reflected on her final goals as a ‘Baler.
“What do I have left to accomplish?” Boyd repeated. “Really, just to run, trackwise, just to run a good solid mile. I’ve always wanted to get a solid mile down. … So close. So close. Just one spot, picking it up can change the whole race.”
