Rensselaer, NY – Friday, June 12 saw the culmination of one of the strongest seasons in Doane Stuart athletic history. Liam Lynch ’15 of Albany, ran his fastest ever 400m in route to winning the Division 2 400m state championship.
Lynch, who was seeded 7th going into the Division 2 400m state final, ran a 49.06 to win his first state title by .17 seconds. His time of 49.06 is a new personal record and school record. Lynch was kind enough to answer a few questions about the race earlier this week.
Q. Walk us through the race, Liam. Were you nervous? Were you feeling like you could post a really low time?
A: “Luckily, despite the competition I actually wasn’t nervous. I’ve run the 400m hundreds of times at this point so I’m pretty comfortable with it. They took us out to the in-field about 20 minutes before the race and we ended up just standing there during a hot, humid day. One of the most difficult parts of the 400m is that by the end of the race your body simply does not have as much oxygen as it needs, so the conditions just made that worse. I think the most important thing I did was adapt to the heat by altering my pace in the beginning significantly and running a much more relaxed 200m in which I basically let myself lag into either last or second to last place. It was actually really hard to let myself do that in such an important race, but I think it paid off because I conserved my energy much better than some of the other guys going into the second 200m and was able to quickly sprint into 1st place and hold it to the finish.
I know that I’m currently capable of a 48, still, so while I’m happy with how I ran I’m definitely not done yet.“
Q: When did you realize you were going to win?
A: “I only started to know I won when some guy holding a camera at the finish line was like,” oh hey did you just win?” To which I told him I had no idea.”
Q: What was the competition like? Was this the most you were ever pushed?
A: “This was definitely the best competition I’ve ever had. Being in one of the smallest leagues and groups can be a blessing and a curse, but in our league there was definitely much less competition than I would have had against the larger teams.”
Q: Has it sunk in that you are a state champion?
A: “I think so? I don’t really know. I set a lot of goals and while accomplishing them is certainly rewarding I usually try to look to the next step pretty soon after. This year I broke into and started running consistent 49’s and so my target not too long after became the 48, and now that my high school track career is over with the state champs I’m looking to NCAA nationals next year. So while I appreciate the title and all I’m mainly looking to the future still. Don’t rest on your laurels right? (maybe when I’m older and want to reminisce about the good old days I’ll appreciate it more)”
On Saturday, June 13, Lynch earned the opportunity to compete in the 400m Championship, which is comprised of the best Friday performances from Division 1 and 2. Liam earned 4th place with a time of 49.45 seconds against this collection of the best of the best 400m runners in the state.
Liam will begin the next phase of his track career at Haverford College in Haverford, PA next year. He will experience a Doane Stuart track reunion with Dan Sax ’14, who is currently a rising sophomore at Haverford.
Congratulations, Liam!