Grace Tahahwah finishes 8th in the 100 prelims which qualified her for the finals at State Track. News Herald Photo/Allison Graham

Meskwaki Settlement School senior, Grace Tahahwah, had a near perfect end to her high school athletic career. That end came at the State Track and Field Meet on Saturday, May 20.

Before we jump into Tahahwah’s results, it must be noted this was not her first year qualifying for State. Her first qualification came in 2016 in which she was the first student from MSS to qualify for the co-ed meet. She ran in the 200m last year, taking 17th with a time of 27.56. Being the first student from her school to qualify for the meet and simply being at State Track is a great accomplishment. But moving into 2017 you could tell the senior standout wanted more.

At the District Meet in Belle Plaine, Tahahwah qualified for State in both the 100 and 200 Meter Dashes, doubling her event total from the previous year.

Her pursuit of the final rounds started Thursday morning where she ran along other sprinters from Class 1A. In the 100 she finished 8th with a time of 12.83 and in the 200 she absolutely dominated the prelims finishing first with a time of 26.08.

Both prelim times sent her into the final rounds on Saturday. The weather was not ideal and maybe slowed her down a bit. She finished 5th in the 100 with a time of 13.04 and 3rd in the 200 with a time of 26.58. Her finish in the 200 was nearly a second faster than her finish at last year’s State meet.

All in all, Tahahwah showed her skills and capped off a decorated high school athletic career in style. Tahahwah has signed on to play basketball at Ellsworth Community College next year.