Ashkon Nima remembers the four laps vividly. At age 7, the Bothell youngster was at a track with his stepfather and stepgrandfather, and they wanted the boy to run.

“The wanted to see how fast I could run the mile — for fun,” Nima recalled. “I did it in seven minutes, and my stepdad said, ‘Wow, you have a shot at this.’”

Fast-forward 10 years, and the Bothell High senior is still having fun, but he’s also developed a serious mindset toward running that earned him the 4A Kingco 800-meter championship May 14 at Eastlake High in a then-personal-best 1 minute, 56.48 seconds. (Times that by two and he now can run the mile in less than four minutes.)

He won’t soon forget his winning 800 performance, either.

“I just went out and I was ready to run,” he said. “No one wanted to take the lead, so I took it (early) for the rest of the way until the finish. You’ve gotta make decisions fast, and I don’t like to follow that much. Take charge, definitely, it’s called ‘make it your own race.’”

Nima will take his next stride at the state championships this weekend at Mount Tahoma High in Tacoma. A sub-1:55 time is in his sights, and Bothell distance coach Robert Eichelsdoerfer feels Nima is on track for continued success.

Nima finished third in the 800 in a now-lifetime-best 1:55.41 at last weekend’s District 2 and 4 meet at the Southwest Athletic Complex in Seattle.

“Ashkon has the confidence that the 800 is ‘his race’ this year and his performances speak to that,” the coach said. “He put in the training during the winter, has worked hard all season and that hard work is paying off.”

According to Eichelsdoerfer, with his top time, Nima ranks as Bothell High’s fifth-fastest runner in school history. He is also Bothell’s fourth Kingco 800 champion since 2004 (Ryan Dorsey in 2004 and 2005, Trey Parry in 2009).

Nima, who has run track and cross country for three years, has previously qualified for state in both sports. The last two seasons, he made it to state as a member of the 4×400 relay in track; in cross country, he helped lead the Cougars to 11th place and 10th place, respectively, in 2007 and 2008.

All that experience has taken Nima from being a “nervous,” decent runner in elementary school to a Northshore School District 800 and 1,600 champ in junior high to an “upper-class” runner in high school. He plans on continuing his education (industrial design is a possible major) and athleticism next fall at Western Washington University.

Nima noted that he didn’t have any grand plans when he began competing for Bothell High as a sophomore.

“You can’t control other people (runners), so I didn’t think, ‘I’m gonna be a Kingco champion,’” he said.

“You try to run your best, you always know you can do that.

“Kingco champion … that’s a pretty good little title.”

In order to notch that honor, Nima had to rebound from a disappointing 1,600 run at Kingco (he finished 14th after running in second until the final 200 meters) to gear up for the 800 prelims soon after.

He succeeded by getting to the final, taking that lead and running the race of his life.

“I’ve learned how to really make smart decisions, rather than freaking out,” Nima said with a laugh.