Highland Park distance runner Adelaide Wortman took full advantage of her debut appearance at the state track and field meet.
The freshman departed for the Class 5A championships Thursday-Saturday in Austin with excitement and hoping to gain valuable experience, and returned to Dallas as the program’s first gold medal winner since 2018.
Wortman took first in the 800-meter run Friday, finishing with a time of 2:11.25 to outpace freshman Presley Merkens of Boerne (2:11.99) in second and senior Aaliyah Williams of White Settlement Brewer (2:12.83) in third.
Ironically, HP’s last gold-medalist also came in the 800 when Maddy Stephens took first in 2018 (2:13.00).
“It’s just an amazing feeling,” Wortman said. “It’s something that I wasn’t expecting at all. It was surprising to me and I had to kind of blink and make sure it was real.
“When we were passing the last 50 mark, it was still kind of tight, and at the end there wasn’t a ton of space, but I could tell I was going to win. It was just awesome.”
Wortman’s finishing time was a personal-best and is less than one second off the school record set by Gabby Crank during her silver medal run at state in 2015 (2:10.60).
“The competition out there at state was incredible,” Wortman said. “I’ve never run against a field like that. I think that really pushed me and was a big reason I ran so well and had my best time.”
After her first-place run, Wortman received numerous congratulatory messages, including from Crank herself.
“That made me so proud,” Wortman said. “To see that kind of support and encouragement meant a lot. To know that not only people at home, but people all over the country were following me and thinking about me and wishing me luck and congratulating me, it’s just a very special feeling.”
With the state meet now in the books and a gold medal in hand, Wortman will take some well-deserved time off before gearing up for her first varsity cross country season in the fall.
But HP head coach Susan Bailey isn’t concerned about any future complacency from Wortman.
“She’s a pretty fierce competitor,” Bailey said. “She does whatever is needed to win. That’s kind of her DNA. Not only is she so coachable, she has that extra gear and work ethic.”
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