Came down to the end, but Lizzy earned eighth trip to a state tournament

There were a lot of nerves on edge before the Canby/Minneota girls ran the 4x400-meter relay at Luverne on Thursday.

In fact, Lizzy Gillingham's mother Diane broke out in tears even before the race started.

But when it was over and the team earned a second place in the section, Lizzy Gillingham's face finally lit up. She had just qualified for the EIGHTH state tournament she would play in as a high school athlete.

Her father Brad, on the other side of the fence from daughter Lizzy, held eight fingers high in the air as he celebrated the landmark of eight tournaments.

"I ran my best run ever — three seconds faster than ever before," said Gillingham.

It was especially satisfying after scratching twice in the long jump and ending up eighth and taking a fifth in the 100-meter dash. Neither qualified her for state.

Gillingham began to realize her high school career was ending. "It's so sad. It's been so much fun," she said. She knew it was over if her relay team didn't qualify for state.

Relay teammate Grace Drietz was already in the state, placing second in the 1600-meter run and first in the 800-meter run.

But for Gillingham, this was do or die time — and she ran the race of her life time.

 "The long jump was tough because I had to run, then jump and run again," said Gillingham. She would have come close to qualifying with a 16 foot, one inch jump, but she scratched. Teammate Hansen ended up in third and also just missed a trip to state.

It's been a tough year for Gillingham. She injured her ankle at the state volleyball tournament and was hobbled most of the basketball season. In addition, she injured a thigh muscle and hurt her in track. "At the start of the track season, I couldn't push off on my leg and make the sharper curves," she said.

But she put all the pain behind her because, "I knew in thed 4x400 we could do well."

When it was over she said, "I'm really proud of my (relay) teammates. We went to the prestigious Howard Wood tournament in Sioux Falls but were disqualified. But we knew we had bigger and better races coming," she said. They waited until last, then turned in one of those races.

Gillingham has been part of state volleyball and basketball championships (back-to-back this year), played on the third place basketball and second place volleyball teams a year earlier, made the state track tournament twice, was a member of the fourth place True Team Canby/Minneota track squad and also made True Team state a year ago with the team for her eight state appearances.

She was close to making it in track as a sophomore.

Now, it's on to state, where Lizzy said, "If we can like we did today, we have a shot at the finals. If we do that, it will be a perfect ending for me."

It's been a huge year for Gillingham. She graduated last week as the Valedictorian of her senior class.

And, she's earned a scholarship at South Dakota State University in Brookings as a member of the outdoor and indoor track teams.

"They plan to use her all-around, in multi-events. That's why they recruited her," said dad Brad Gillingham.

That means she needs learn to throw the javelin and shotput, will long jump, run hurdles and basically, "She'll be like a decathelon performer for the women."

For Lizzy Gillingham, her success was a matter of hard work. "We worked so hard in practice," she said of her relay team.

But it goes deeper than that. "We grew up watching the older girls and held ourselves to a high standards. Most of it was mental," said Gillingham.

She also credited her body-building father Brad for keeping her focused and helping her gain strength and endurance.

"He's been working with me since I was young," she said.

Her mother was smiling and her father was holding up those eight fingers.

It just doesn't get better than that!