Hayden Kristianson Chewelah Year: Junior Sport: Track Events: Middle Distances

Hayden Kristianson laughed. She had no explanation.

The Northeast A cross country champion won the 100-meter dash at the Panorama Invitational in Colville last weekend. The Chewelah junior also won the 400 and the 800 but not the distance events you might expect.

“That is kind of odd,” she said. “I still don’t know what my perfect distance is yet. That’s why I tried the 800. I think I’m more of a middle-distance runner with my build. I run 3 miles in cross country and sprint the 100-meter dash in track. It’s weird.”

Not really, though. It’s more of an indication of the talent of someone who was first-team all-league in basketball between running sports.

Kristianson’s recent times weren’t eye-popping in the 100 (13.3 seconds) or the 800 (2:33.3), but she was the first area female to break a minute in the 400 (59.6).

“So far I’ve gotten off to a better start in the 400,” she said. “I hope in the long run I can focus on the 800. (But) I like the 400 meters, that’s the one I love. I started that earlier, I just started the 800 last year.”

That’s not too bad, though, since she won both events at state. She would like to lower her state-winning 58.05 in the 400 to the low 57s and her 2:18.92 in the 800 to less than 2:14.

“I’d like to do what I did last year at state,” she said. And she wasn’t laughing.

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