By Lee Davis
Presley Weems already held the Class 7A record for the 800-meter dash going into last week’s Alabama High School Athletic Association Track and Field Championships at Gulf Shores Sports Complex.
Weems, a Hoover senior, completed the event in a record time of 2:12.53 a year ago. As sweet as the victory was, she still had some unfinished business in her final state meet. Weems wanted to break the elusive 2:10 mark.
“Nobody had ever broken 2:10,” she said. “That was definitely one of my goals for the season. It was one of my incentives from the very beginning.”
Finally, on Saturday, the athlete and the moment met as the 800-meter race began.
“My strategy was to stay behind someone and rely on getting a kick start at the end,” Weems said.
The plan changed when she found herself in the lead from the beginning.
“Once I found myself in front, I had to be confident in the first lap,” she recalled. “On the second lap, I wanted to take control. At the end, I wanted to rely on my kick to bring it home.”
As Weems crossed the finish line in first place, she sensed her time was good – she just wasn’t sure how good.
Then the times were announced: Weems had crossed the finish line at 2:08.99 – breaking her own record and shattering the 2:10 mark by more than one second. Mountain Brook’s Frances Patrick was second at 2:13.06 and Weems’ teammate Sydney Steely was third at 2:14.28.
“It was an incredible feeling not just to win but to break 2:10,” she said. “In some ways, it really hasn’t sunk in yet. It might take a while.”
Setting a new record wasn’t Weems’ only big moment in Gulf Shores. She also won the 1,600-meter run and finished second in the 400-meter run to help the Lady Bucs win their second consecutive Class 7A title by a wide margin.
“This was the best track meet I’ve ever had,” Weems said. “There was no better way I could have ended my senior year.”
Weems had success in the 800-meter run in every environment. She also won the event at the state indoor meet at the Birmingham Crossplex earlier this year. Her time was 2:13.19, also a state record.
“Time-wise, the indoor race can be more difficult because there are so many more turns on a smaller track,” she said.
The 1,600-meter race required a different strategy.
“Coach (Devon) Hind told me I had to stay near Frances (Patrick) through the third lap,” she recalled. “I couldn’t beat her if I didn’t stay close. While I was running I kept thinking ‘stay with Frances, stay with Frances’ and I was able to finish strong at the end.”
Patrick was runner-up to Weems in two events and won the 3,200- meter run.
Weems comes by her athletic talent naturally. Her father, Lance, was a basketball star at Auburn University and is a former basketball coach at Hoover. She began running competitively in the sixth grade.
“In eighth grade, I began running the 800-meters and it became my favorite event,” she said. “That was also the first year I ran in the state meet.”
Unlike some runners, Weems doesn’t run recreationally. “I run during practice, but not really any other time,” she said, laughing. “I’m not the type that gets up at five in the morning and runs three miles.”
Maybe not, but her devotion to her sport has served her well. She’ll be running at Samford University next fall.
“I’m really excited about the opportunity to run at the next level,” Weems said. “I enjoy challenges and this will be one. It will be nice to be close to home as well.”
In the meantime, Weems plans to savor the accomplishment of breaking the 2.10 barrier. “It was important to me to leave high school with no regrets,” she said. “I guess it worked out that way.”
No regrets go nicely with a new state record.
