Sarah Baxter, one of the greatest distance runners to ever come out of the state of California, ended her high school running career this past Saturday at the CIF Southern Section Division 2 Prelims meet by winning the 3200 meter run in a time of 10:30.78. Following the race, Baxter and her coach announced it would be her last race of the season after dealing with a stress reaction injury all spring long.
With her 3200 win on Saturday in the CIF-SS Division 2 Prelims, the Simi Valley High School senior Baxter will go out on top and remain unbeaten throughout her four years of high school at the 3200 meter distance. A remarkable feat considering the high level of competition found just within her home state of California alone. Her dominance extended to cross country as well with her lone loss coming at the Nike Cross Nationals this past December in a mega star-studded matchup with Alexa Efraimson and Elise Cranny. She was attempting to be a three-time champion after winning the individual national title at NXN the previous two years to go along with her four California state titles in cross country.
She finishes her high school career with PR's of 4:49.33 for 1600 meters, 10:06.74 for 3200 meters, 15:53 for 3 miles, and 16:40 for 5K. Next up for Baxter is a collegiate career of running for the University of Oregon as she expects to be an instant impact freshmen for the Lady Ducks in the fall for cross country.
