By Drew Herron - NT Sports Editor / April 27, 2013
DES MOINES - A
nagging viral infection has slowed Griswold super sophomore Rebekah Topham for
the better part of three weeks.
The illness has afflicted the defending three-time state
champion in a number of ways, namely fatigue, swollen glands, and a low
hemoglobin count in her blood. All of which limits her ability to breath, and
reigns in her boundless energy.
But with Drake Relays happening for the 104th
time this past weekend, Topham refused to be just a spectator, even after
scratching from Thursday’s 3000M.
Nope, Topham was going to take a shot at the blue oval.
“I really wanted to run this…it’s the Drake Relays,” she
said Saturday. “It was very difficult to sit there and watch the 3000M. I don’t
feel a whole lot better (now), but I really wanted to run.”
Topham ran the 800-meter Friday, and competed in both the
1500M and 400M hurdles Saturday to medal in three events. She did not win
championships like she did last year, but the experience might have given her a
new perspective.
After placing fourth in the 800M Friday (2:13.29), Topham
finished out the weekend Saturday by medaling sixth in the 1500M (4:42.27), and
sixth in the 400M hurdles (1:05.56) to take something away from Drake.
“It was an ok experience,” she said. “Today didn’t really go
as well as I wanted, but (Friday) was good, and I got to run here. That was
important to me.”
In the 1500M, Topham’s favorite race, things did not go as
well as she had hoped for Saturday.
“Almost immediately, I felt tired, and it felt like I had no
energy,” she said. “As I went along, it got worse.”
After one lap, Topham was at the back of the pack as is her
custom. But when lap 2 became lap 3, then lap 4, she found she didn’t have the
gear that would normally have driven her to the front of the pack.
Still, Topham picked off nine runners ahead of her to finish
sixth, and less than an hour later, she was back on the track for the 400M
hurdles.
The shortest of her four races (3000M, 1500M, 800M and 400M
hurdles), the hurdles provided a little bit of diversion from the pressure that
comes with winning championships and carrying a target on your back.
Despite her second place finish at State last year in Class
1A, the 400M hurdles was a race that Topham was not expected to win this year
at Drake, and that made competing in it all the more attractive under the
circumstances.
“With the 400 hurdles, I figured I might as well run it,”
she said. “It’s a short race, and I don’t have anything to lose. It’s not like
I am supposed to win that.”
Before State arrives, Topham hopes to get back to 100
percent as she goes about defending State titles in the 3000M, the 1500M, and
the 800M, as well as a runner-up finish in the 400M hurdles.
Griswold does not have a regular season meet remaining on
their schedule, making for a short season with five meets cancelled on account
of the weather. In the time left, Topham is hoping to get back to top form.
“I just want to get healthy and get over this,” she said. “I
want to finish this season strong.”
#iowaprep #drakerelays #griswoldtigers
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