North Tama track star Grace Lidgett pictured on Saturday at Drake Stadium in Des Moines. PHOTO COURTESY OF AMY LIDGETT/FACEBOOK

DES MOINES – North Tama distance star Grace Lidgett rounded out her high school running career with a 10th-place finish in the Class 1A girls’ 1,500-meter run at the Iowa co-ed high school track and field championships on Saturday afternoon at Drake Stadium in Des Moines.

Lidgett – who has been a standout distance runner in both cross country and track the last four years – finished with a time of 5:00.34 in the event just behind a pair of runners from South Winneshiek.

The Redhawk runner has struggled this season with health issues but persevered at districts in Belle Plaine on May 11 to qualify for the state meet as one of 14 at-large finishers in the 1,500 in Class 1A.

On the Blue Oval on Saturday, Lidgett beat her Belle Plaine finish by more than 10 seconds. She ran the race alongside Calamus-Wheatland’s Noelle Steines and Nashua-Plainfield’s Kadence Huck who each broke the state record (4:35.87) set in 2014 in the event by finishing 4:35.43 and 4:35.44, respectively, claiming champion and runner-up.

“She smiled the whole first lap out of pure joy to be running here one last time!” Lidgett’s mother Amy Lidgett posted on Facebook following the race. “We are definitely sad it’s over but so thankful for all the amazing memories!”

PHOTO COURTESY OF AMY LIDGETT/AMY'S IMAGES

Lidgett qualified in 2022 and 2021 for the 1,500 as well, finishing in 9th place last year with a time of 4:55.49 – setting a personal record – and in 8th place in 2021 with a time of 5:09.06.

Lidgett will attend Grace College in Indiana in the fall with plans to major in graphic design.