After her wins in the 3,200 and 1,600 meter races at the 4A state meet, the Reporter got the chance to catch up with Inglemoor senior Tansey Lystad, headed to Cal-Poly in San Luis Obispo next year on a running scholarship:
Q: You were definitely one of the favorites to win state, what was your race plan heading into the 3200 and how did you execute it?
A: I was planning on doing what I had done at Districts, where I sit for the first mile and then make a move after that. I was kind of lucky – there was wind on the back stretch at Districts, so I figured out how to race in the wind. It was the same this week, so I sat for three laps and on the third lap I made a move into the wind. It was tough having to fight (the wind), but I knew if I built a big enough gap, everyone else would have to fight the wind too. I made that gap and stayed in it for the long haul, tried to stay consistent on my splits and finished out the race. It ended exactly as I hoped it would, which was very exciting.
Q: When did you know for sure you had it?
A: My brother was standing at the top of the track and he told me I had a pretty big lead, but it’s one of those things where I didn’t want to get lazy while I was running. Even though I had a big lead, I still wanted to get a (personal record), so I really stayed focused and kept telling myself that they could catch me.
Q: What was that feeling like, crossing the finish line?
A: It was a mix of being so excited and happy. I started crying, it’s just been really emotional, coming back after sophomore year, my first year at state, I took 12th in the two-mile. I never thought in my wildest dreams I’d be a state champion. The girls in track are so competitive.
Q: You celebrated your 18th birthday last Friday after your first win, did you do anything fun?
A: I went back home and just hung out, went shopping, it was kinda nice. Last year I had to race on my birthday, and this year it was the day in between. I had a race day, time to kick back and relax and not worry about racing, and then came back ready to race again.
Q: Speaking of coming back, two days later you top it off with another win, what was that like?
A: I think the 1,600 was the emotional one for me. In state cross-country people said I had a chance to win the 3,200, but nobody had pinned me for the 1,600. I’m more of a long-distance girl – when I go to college I’m going to do the 5K and 10K. Going in and racing girls like Baylee Mires (state champion in the 800) and Carly Wilcyznski from Emerald Ridge, these girls are 800 runners, they’ve got the pure speed. The 1,600 was more of a super emotional one because I didn’t think I was going to win that one, I was actually really nervous because of the competition.
