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The first race of the 2008 state track and field championships is the one mile (1,600-meters), an event that requires strength, stamina and determination.
And a nice kick at the end can make a big difference -- just ask Orem junior Kendy Christiansen. She came into the final 100 meters of the race in fourth place but made a big move. "I was trying not to finish the race early," she explained. "I wanted to finish the race at the finish line. I didn't think I'd be able to get the runners in front of me but then they started coming back, so I kept trying." Christiansen pulled past Woods Cross senior Sarah Edwards, then nudged in front of Mountain View senior Sarah Yingling and into second place. "I thought they'd come up from behind," Christiansen admitted. "I thought I got third but it turned out I out-leaned her (Yingling) to get second. At first I wasn't happy but when I saw I got second, I felt very good." The Tiger junior picked up second place by .02 and felt pleased that she could get things going like that for her team. "I was happy that we could start the meet off well," she said. "I like running early in the day so I'm not stressed out about it." While Orem's success meant that Region 7 counterpart Mountain View lost some points early, the Bruins still proved to be strong the rest of the way. Mountain View holds a slim two-point lead over Orem and Box Elder after the first day of action, but only four of 16 events have been totaled. Coaches that have scored it out believe the Bruins are in good shape heading into the final day. On the boys side, things went well for Timpview but not as well for the Tigers. Orem came in hoping to have a shot at the title but Box Elder has built a large lead on the strength of their performance in the discus (first, second, third and seventh). "Box Elder is running away with it," said Tiger head coach Andy Jacobs. "It looks like it will be us and Timpview battling for second place. Our goal is to end up with a trophy but it's going to take a lot of work." Thunderbird head coach Brian Kuhlmann said that just about everything had gone well for his squad on the first day and he liked their position heading into the finals. The finals begin at 8 a.m. today at BYU. • Jared Lloyd can be reached at
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