Saratoga 4x100 hurdles heading to nationals

SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. » Saratoga Springs girls track and field team has something to look forward to, a 4x100 meter hurdle race at nationals in North Carolina on June 17.

Mimi Liebers, Brett DeWeese, Emily Turner and Jensen Kinngsley managed to hit the qualifying mark at the George Muse Relays at Glens Falls on May 5th with a time of 1:05.23.

Liebers said that heading into the event the four of them knew what they had to do to make it to North Carolina.

“This isn’t a common relay in track, so it is only at a few meets,” Liebers said. “We ran it

at the New York Relays and we hit a time that was half a second off the national qualifying time, which we found out about after the race. We found another meet in Glens Falls to run it again and we knew this was our last chance to qualify for nationals, so we were really trying to hit the time going in.”

Before the race began, Liebers said that the four girls were warming up together and were really nervous about the race. She said they really wanted to reach the time and didn’t want to miss out on the goal they had been working so hard to reach.

Heading into the race, the conditions on the track were not ideal.

“We were all really nervous warming up together,” Liebers said. “It was a very windy day, so going over the hurdles was extremely difficult, so it made us extra nervous. My three teammates before the me ran really well and the third girl passed me. I just went and knew what I had to do. I personally didn’t run my best that day, I think the wind was too much for me and crossing the finish line I was upset because I didn’t think we qualified.”

Liebers was standing at the finish line with the big board behind her and wasn’t looking at what the time said. Her teammates ran to her to tell her what had happened.

Turner said that she ran with her teammates to Liebers to tell her the time.

“When we hit it, Brett and I ran down to the finish line to tell Mimi,” Turner said. “Everyone was excited and it was a good time.”

Liebers said that when her teammates came to her and told her they qualified, they all screamed and celebrated.

The four girls are close friends with each other on the team so managing to accomplish this was an even bigger deal for the foursome.

Kinngsley said it was big for her to finally hit the mark.

“It is a really big deal because I have been competing with these girls my entire high school career and we haven’t been able to go,” Kinngsley said. “We have been working so hard to qualify, so that was our goal heading to Glens Falls, cut down our team so we could go to nationals. To be able to compete that with my teammates and also my best friends, it was a really good feeling.”

Liebers said that reaching nationals in this event is big for her because she has been running it since eighth grade.

“Hurdles have been my favorite event and I’m going to college for hurdles,” Liebers said.

“To be able to qualify for nationals in this event is something I never thought would happen. This relay is really near and dear to my heart because I am on it with my three best friends on the team, so to be able to go to nationals with them and be able to reach the goal we set is really great.”

The foursome will now have the chance to compete at nationals, which makes them have a longer season and more time to train together as friends.

For Liebers, this is another benefit of hitting the qualifying time.

“Since it is my senior year it is amazing that I qualified because it is later in the season, it is last thing, it is June 17, and it extends my season,” Liebers said. “It lets be able about to compete and train with my teammates for that much longer is really great and to be able to go to North Carolina with them is going to be a great way to end my high school career.”