QUICK Q&A TARA DESTACHE MAHTOMEDI SENIOR, TRACK

What sports do you play? Volleyball, basketball and track.

Favorite? Definitely track. It is always a positive environment and the coaches are great at making you feel good about yourself. There's never a bad day in track practice.

Does it help that track happens in the spring? Definitely. I'm used to being stuck inside for basketball. It's always nice to finally get out in the open, in the sunshine.

What are your events? I run the 100-meter hurdles, the 300-meter hurdles and the 4x400-meter relay.

Any preference? It's close between the 300 hurdles and 4x400 relay.

Why? The 300 hurdles are exhausting, but it feels so good at the end. The 4x400 is a team race and everyone is always so supportive.

How so? Over the last 100 meters, there's always kind of a tunnel made by all the runners. You usually want to die by that time, but they're all cheering and it's really motivating.

Most memorable moment as a high school athlete: In basketball this year, we took Hill-Murray to four overtimes before we lost. Mahtomedi hadn't been that close to HIll-Murray in a long time. No one expected us to be that close.

What part of practice makes you groan? Running during basketball. It doesn't feel the same as running for track. In basketball, after a few killers, people always ask me why I do that for fun in the spring. But it doesn't feel the same.

JIM PAULSEN