Lursen, a University of South Dakota commit, was hit with devastating news following the indoor portion of the track and field season.

“I noticed my foot started to become very irritated,” said the Gael senior. “After our first indoor meet, the pain became unbearable, so I went to the doctor.

“As it turned out, I had a stress fracture in my navicular bone and was told I was done for the season.”

But Lursen never gave up hope, and will now run this coming week here inside Drake Stadium alongside several of her teammates.

Messenger photo by Britt Kudla: St. Edmond boys state track qualifiers are (left to right) Aaron Hindt and Anthony Valles.

Lursen earned a district title in the 400-meter dash and will run on the Class 1A-qualifying sprint medley relay for St. Edmond. Rihanna Myers earned an at-large bid in the discus, as did Anthony Valles in the 3,200-meter run and Aaron Hindt in the 200-meter dash.

“(Being told my season was over) was obviously devastating, as it was my senior year and I had big goals I wanted to achieve,” Lursen said. “Watching my teammates compete was my favorite thing, but every meet, I couldn’t help but wish I was running.”

Despite not being medically cleared, Lursen started practicing several days before districts and opted to enter her name into the meet.

“Coming back for districts was terrifying,” Lursen said. “I am not technically cleared to run, but I couldn’t pass up the chance to compete one more time in a Gael uniform. Winning (at the state-qualifying meet) was honestly a crazy feeling, as it was one of the only times I’ve ran in the past few months.

“The chance at the 400 state title has been something I have always strived to achieve. However, now my goals have changed and I’m just so beyond grateful to run, be at state and just be healthy.”

During the season, different runners helped comprise the sprint medley relay for SEHS girls head coach CJ Tracy. His plan as of now is to use Kenzie Nolte, Ava Bradley, Breckyn Ulrich and Lursen in the relay, as that quartet competed together at districts. Alternates include Brianna Saathoff, Alex Leitng, Ella Vandi and Grace Schlegel.

Lursen was a key piece of the third-place team last spring that brought home the first track and field trophy for the girls. She had runner-up finishes in both the 400 and 400 hurdles, adding a fourth in the 800, and has now qualified for all 14 state events that she ran in at districts during her Gael career.

Lursen is seeded sixth in the 400 based on district times, having gone 59.68 in Colfax last week.

Myers is seeded 12th in the discus and the sprint medley relay got in as the No. 23 qualifier.

Lursen runs the 400 on Thursday at 1:20 p.m., Myers throws on Friday at 9 a.m. and the relay runs on Saturday at 9 a.m.

Valles, a senior, clocked the ninth-best 3,200 time at districts while Hindt, a junior, ran the 11th-fastest 200. Valles runs on Thursday at 10:10 a.m. and Hindt hits the blue oval less than an hour later.

Last year, Valles was 15th in the 3,200 while Hindt was 10th in the 100 prelims and qualified for the 200. They both ran on the 4×400 that finished 18th in the prelims.