DES MOINES -- Noelle Steines sat in the pool and stewed. An injury to her right quadriceps relegated her to rehab duty shortly after track season began this March and let's just say Tipton's standout senior distance runner wasn't thrilled about it.
So she made up a motivational game.
"This might sound crazy," said Steines, who swept titles in the 800 and 1,500 meters during Saturday's Class 2A state track meet to push her Drake Stadium-based haul of crowns to 12. "But I would be awkward jogging in my lane and I would close my eyes during my hard reps and pretend like I was racing all the best in the state. Sometimes I would run into the little, like, lane buoys because I was like, 'Let's go!'"
An injury to her other quad followed, but Steines' trademark competitiveness eventually made her latest in a long list of maladies disappear late this season.
Steines won every event she was entered in for the second consecutive state meet -- and added a record-breaking run in the 800 for good measure.
She won that race in a time of 2:11.49, eclipsing former Tigers standout Ashley Miller's previous benchmark of 2:12.12 set in 2007.
"I just went out and gutted it out and hoped my legs would take me the rest of the way," said Steines, who will run for Bradley next season.
Just like they did in those mock races in the pool.
"It feels really great to be in this legacy and leave my mark one last time," she said.
Mid-Prairie freshman Jeorgia Evans made the most of her first time at state, notching her second runner-up finish Saturday in the 100-meters. She also placed third in the 200 and helped the Golden Hawks' 400-meter relay time hit the podium in third, as well.
"The blue oval is a really special plays and it just feels amazing to be able to do it with such amazing teammates," she said.
Steines' curtain call as a high school athlete at Drake featured some of her greatest quirky hits: Vomiting and occasionally donning a pair of pink sunglasses. But something changed this weekend for the celebrated senior.
"No puking for the last two days," she said emphatically.