GRACE KEENE LEANS AT THE LINE IN THE GIRLS 1600 WHERE SHE BROKE A 15-YEAR OLD COMPOSITE RECORD
Going into Saturday's LHSAA Class 5A State Outdoor Championship, Kaitlin Flattman's composite record of 4:56 was squarely in the crosshairs for Northshore's Grace Keene. After briefly losing the lead girls' 1600 meters to Mt. Carmel's Stella Junius, Keene took over with 200 meters and never looked back, although she might have looked to the left to peak at the jumbotron to see if she was on record pace.
She was. Keene crossed the line with a time of 4:54.48.
While Saturday's epic performance by Keene may have closed the chapter on her championship run in Louisiana. "The process"--as coaches like to call it-started during cross country season when Keene told her coaches that she would be leaving after her sophomore year and moving to Oregon.
"Before state, my cross country coach printed off the records on a sheet paper and asked me how I want to be remembered. Leave your legacy kind of thing. He did that for me and that was the first time I ever broke a record for high school. I just kept that momentum going throughout the whole season....This whole running season has been about leaving my legacy.
She did it in more ways than one. After running the fastest 1600 meters in LHSAA State Meet History, Keen would return later in the meet to break the 800 meter composite record in dramatic fashion.
Keene made a move and charged down the home stretch at just the right time. If she waited just a fraction of a second longer, she would not have been able to lean at the line and defeat Lafayette sophomore Riley Siner. Both sophomores broke the old composite record set by Dutchtown's Rachel Fereday in 2023. Keen's winning time was 2:11.06. Siner's time was 2:11.07.
Needless to say, it was the greatest girls 800 meter race in LHSAA history.
And it took an extended amount of time for LSU Track and Field Official's Association personnel to deter who won and to post on the scoreboard.
It took so long that Keene gave up waiting and bent down to start taking off her spikes. When she did she heard "Grace! Grace!" from the section of her family and friends who were in Bernie Moore Stadium. When Keene looked up, she was her family and friends pointing to her time.
Even then, Keene didn't know that she broke the record. She wouldn't know until announcer Lynn Roberts made the crowd aware over the public address system.
Moments before, a poetic scene unfolded as Keene made her final trip to a podium with a very brief torrential downpour falling onto the track at Bernie Moore Stadium. Mother Nature-on Mother's Day Weekend no less-showered Keene with tears of joy and sadness all rolled into one. Joy over her two composite records which were broken and sadness over her imminent departure.
Grateful is the word Keene used multiple times in the interview below. One thing she is grateful for is her competition. Had it not been for them, Keene would have had difficulty having the greatest performance by a Louisiana high school female distance runner in the history of the sport. But don't ask her which opponent is her favorite to run against.
"Don't' ask me that," Keene said. "That's like asking a mother who her favorite child is. Everyone is so good at their own event. If I picked someone, I'd also be picking the event. I love all of it and everyone is so amazing to compete against. I couldn't choose someone."
Keene and her family plan to move to Oregon in mid-June. She found out the news before the cross country season started, and it took her about a month to get over it. When she did, she decided to make the most of her final year as a Northshore Panther.
Despite winning five state championships during her sophomore year, Keene's final race in Louisiana was a painful performance in the 3200 meters. Still, she finished third with a time of 11:17 and on the podium. Mt. Carmel's Stella Junius won the race with a time of 11:03.
"I was so grateful," Keene said. "Honestly, that was my last race as a Northshore Panther. I told myself to have fun even though I was hurting. The last 800, I was gritting my teeth. Knowing I left everything out there on the track is the best feeling ever and I will never look back and regret it."
Contact Jerry Byrd milesplitlaeditor@gmail.com
