BEDFORD - Lakeview senior Lauren Schattinger ran the 4x100-meter relay her freshman year.
Next weekend at the state track and field meet, she'll be in that event once again to finish her career with the Bulldogs before leaving for Miami (of Ohio) University.
Schattinger, who won the 100 and placed second in the 200, was the second leg of her team's third-place 4x100 at Saturday's Division II Bedford regional track and field meet at Bedford Bearcat Stadium.
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The top four in each final advanced to the state meet in Columbus.
"I'm so thrilled about my 4x100," Schattinger said. "We worked so hard on these handoffs. The 4x100, I love the girls I'm on the team with. It's the best feeling in the world to know they are coming down to state this year. It's great to come into a program and leave the same way I came in. My first ever race was a relay and my next to last is going to be in a relay. I couldn't ask for a better group of girls to be going to state with this year."
Schattinger began her day by winning the 100 in a time of 12.03 seconds.
After winning the 60 and 200 races in indoor state back in March, she had to quickly adjust to the colder weather of April. Now that the weather is heating up, Schattinger is seeing her times drop dramatically.
"I kind of had a rough season with my times this year, which was kind of scaring me for a while because I couldn't get down where I wanted to be," Schattinger said. "Coming out here and running in that 100, it was really a confident booster. It makes me really excited of what's to come because my times continue to drop from districts to today. That's a really good thing for me."
In the 200, Schattinger was edged by a familiar foe - Vermilion's Emily Cunningham. Both girls ran 24.80, but Cunningham slightly edged out Schattinger at the finish line.
"I knew going against Emily, we give each other a good run," Schattinger said. "It's always up in the air with the two of us. We've gone back and forth since freshman year. It's always an exciting race when the two of us are on the track."
At state, Lakeview has sophomore Katie Chuirazzi, junior Megan Goedeker and junior anchor Kristin Palumbo in the 4x100. The foursome ran a time of 49.48.
Considering Schattinger has been an individual runner most of her career, it was odd for her to go back to her relay roots.
"It is weird, but I trust them," Schattinger said. "I watch them handoff every day at practice and I know how bad they want it. Those are girls I can trust. It's not hard to put my trust in them."
