ST. PAUL – Lyle-Pacelli junior Kayla Christpherson saved just enough burst to get back on the podium.
Christopherson finished strong down the stretch of the 3200-meter run to pull off an eighth place finish and get on the podium at the Minnesota Class A State Track and Field Meet for the second time in her career in Hamline University Friday.

Christopherson was bunched up with Perham’s Liz Birkeland, Albany’s Kristine Kaltoff and Northwest’s Erika Swanson down the final 100-meters and one of those runners wasn’t going to get on the podium. Christopherson was able to speed past Kaltoff and Swanson to finish with a time of 11:34.27.

“It was a bit of a challenge today and I’m a little disapointed with how I did. But I still got on the podium, which is a success in my eyes,” Christopherson said. ”

In the last stretch I told myself ‘I had to beat one of these girls to get on the podium’ and then I kicked it in. It’s exciting. Not a lot of girls get a chance to get to state, let alone get on the podium. To do it again, is a blessing.”
Christopherson competed in three state events this year as she was All-State in cross country in the fall and she was a member of the Class A state champion LP girls basetball team in the winter. Christopherson said that competing in state never gets old.

“It’s been a lot of fun and having Kristi Fett in shot put helped lessen the pressure and she keeps it fun,” Christopherson said.