One way to reach state is to make sure you run faster than you ever have before.
That’s exactly what Perryville junior Tegan Bishop did.
Bishop set a school record in the 800-meter run with a time of 2 minutes, 28.21 seconds to finish third in the Class 4 sectional meet on Monday at Festus High School. That finish will move her onto the state meet on Friday at Jefferson City.
The time was eight seconds faster than Bishop’s previous personal best.
“She had been improving all year,” Perryville track coach Brent Broeking said. “I don’t know if either she or I saw her running that well though. That was execeptional. Hopefully she has one more run in her.”
Bishop’s time qualifies her for third in the state, among other runners in the event. Broeking noted that it would be great if she could produce another run like that again, but it is certainly not guaranteed.
“Every race is different,” he said. “We want to get her mind and legs ready for the state meet as much as we can.”
Bishop also finished seventh in the 3,200 run with a time of 12:38.26. Broeking said much of the reason for the slower time was the quick turnaround time.
“You just ran eight seconds faster in the 800 and had to turn around one hour later,” Broeking said. “I don’t think she had enough to bounce back. To qualify she would have had to run 26 seconds faster than her best time.”
Dominic Mahathath finished fifth in the triple jump with a distance of 40-10.25 to narrowly miss qualifying for state.
“He had a little bit of bad luck in that last jump,” Broeking said. “He scratched and it probably would have been enough to qualify. He was sitting fourth, but the kid that jumped after him beat him. Although he is just a junior so I expect him to improve and be right back there next year.”
