Messenger photo by Britt Kudla: Anna Lursen of St. Edmond sprints to the finish on Thursday in Des Moines. For more photos, visit CU.messengernews.net

DES MOINES — In his last high school race, Anthony Valles achieved what his head coach called perfection.

Valles, a St. Edmond senior, placed seventh in the Class 1A 3,200-meter run here Thursday at the opening day of the state track and field championships from Drake Stadium.

The time was a personal best by 18 seconds, as Valles had previously placed 14th as a sophomore and 15th as a junior in the distance race.

His Gael teammate, Aaron Hindt, will race for a state medal on Saturday after advancing in the 200-meter dash.

“Anthony is just a student of the sport,” SEHS boys head coach Mike Szalat said. “He ran a perfect race with perfect splits. He is the poster child for a plan being carried out to have success, and that’s definitely something I will show kids in the coming years.

“I’m just so happy for him, and proud of everything he has accomplished.”

Valles, who will run at Iowa Central next year, was left with the sting of not qualifying for state cross country in October. That only helped add fuel to his fire for his final track campaign.

He also took what he learned from competing against the best in 1A last year at state and used it this time to his advantage.

“I fell short earlier in the fall for cross country, so this track season, I wanted to give it my all,” Valles said. “The race went well. I knew from my experience that I could reel (the field) back to me. I ended up seventh because I ran tactically this time.

“Coming in, I had the same goals I had the last two seasons but fell short. This year, I’ve completed them going sub-10 and becoming a state medalist. I couldn’t have done it without God being the core.”

Hindt was disqualified as a sophomore at state in the 200 after having clocked a time good enough for the finals. He made sure there would not be a repeat this year, going 22.47 to grab the eighth and final spot.

“It was redemption for Aaron,” Szalat said. “He had another PR, which is great that we had two kids qualify and both had PRs. He’s in what many people might call a tough spot (lane eight), but we’ll get him ready and he’ll run as hard as he can.

“Both Anthony and Aaron out-ran their seeds and performed better than they have all year, which is what you want to have at state.”

Hindt will run in the finals on Saturday at 2:30 p.m.

Anna Lursen, a University of South Dakota commit, ran her final individual race on Thursday in a Gael uniform. The senior returned to the track after an injury earlier this spring.

Lursen, who qualified in all 14 state events that she participated in at districts over the last four years, placed 15th overall in 1:00.34. Ada Hansen of Anita-CAM won gold in 56.90.

“There aren’t enough words to express how proud of Anna we are,” SEHS girls head coach CJ Tracy said. “She has done so much for this track and field program in her career. She battled an injury that took away a majority of her senior year. She continued to do everything she could and was able to come back and qualify for this meet.

“I know it wasn’t the way she wanted to finish her high school career, but I’m so excited to see what she will be able to accomplish at the next level.”

Lursen has one final race left, as she is set to anchor the sprint medley relay on Saturday morning at 9 a.m. Freshman Rihanna Myers will compete in the discus on Friday at 9 a.m. for St. Edmond.