LAUREL — It didn't take Joliet's Cori Coombe too long this season to mark her territory among the crème de la crème of Class B girls 100-meter runners.
At the Beartooth Invitational in Red Lodge on April 15, Coombe ran the 100 in 12.45 seconds, which was just .05 off her PR and was, at the outset of this week, the fastest time in the event in the B ranks this spring.
Coombe, now a senior, has been on the cusp of state championships in the sprints in years past, and this time she hopes to go out with a flourish. She certainly put in the effort in the lead-up to her final high school campaign.
"I did a lot of offseason training," Coombe told MTN Sports during the Gold Strike Invitational on Tuesday at the Laurel Sports Complex. "I didn't play basketball this year. I went to the gym three times a day to work out — doing plyometrics, working on my starts. I came into this season so confident."
That confidence produced five consecutive wins in the 100 and two in the 200 meters to open the season, including a PR in the latter at 26.06 at the Red Lodge Classic 12 days ago.
At the Gold Strike meet, Coombe took second to Laurel's Kaitlyn Dantic in the 100 after what she described was a "funky" start. Running into a headwind, Dantic caught up and finished at 12.7 while Coombe crossed in 12.79.
Later, Coombe won the triple jump with a leap of 36 feet, 8¾ inches, a season-best distance that extended her grip on the top mark in Class B in that event, as well.
As a sophomore, Coombe won the Class B triple jump state title with a bound of 36-2. Huntley Project's Avery Gerdes took that crown away from her at state last season.
Nevertheless, Coombe has etched a name for herself in Joliet track history, joining the likes of sprinter/jumper Tru Roginske and distance runner Mackenzie O'Dore among the program's best over the course of the past 15 or so years.
This season, said Joliet sprint coach Rob Robinson, Coombe is "right on track. We're really trying to work on getting her out of the blocks a little quicker than she has been, and really having her be more relaxed and not get really tight at the finish. I feel like we're getting right where she needs to be."
There are several contenders in the sprints in Class B, with Sophia Berry of Missoula Loyola, Kaimea Dalke of Shepherd and Shelby up-and-comer Regan Torgerson with big aspirations come the state meet in Missoula. Those three, along with Project's Gerdes, will also be formidable in the 200.
"There's good competition," Coombe said. "And they're going to hold their ground. It's not going to be a cake walk, that's for sure."
Winning the triple jump as a sophomore was a thrill for Coombe, who said she didn't really know how to feel in the moment after it became known that she was the victor.
But seeing Gerdes win that title a year ago has provided motivation, even though Coombe describes she and Gerdes as friends off the track.
"She's good at" the triple jump, Coombe said. "She never fails to do it perfectly. She's someone I kind of have to watch, you know. You watch her form and the way she's doing it, because she just does it so beautifully."
As the track and field season reaches its apex, Coombe said this will likely be her final go-round with the sport. She plans to attend Northwest College in Powell, Wyo., next year to begin studying for a degree in business marketing.
But she's at peace with it ... for the most part
"I do not have track in my future plans right now," Coombe said. "It bothers me a little bit, but I just feel like moving on from it in the future is probably one of the best things for me, really."
That explains her deep focus this season, and her desire to finish with a flourish in the sprints, the triple jump — all of it.
"I can't wait for the state," Coombe said. "I want to keep getting better. But it just feels like all the work I have put in is kind of starting to come along, and I just can't wait to to see what happens.
"I'm confident that I can win. I know there's going to be hard, hard competition there, but I have confidence that I can do it."
