Saturday, April 19, 2025 my favorite meet will take place at Montgomery High, the Viking Classic.
In my 50 plus years of track meets it is rare for one race to get me this excited but the girls 800 coming up is one I can hardly wait to see.
Scheduled to run are three great distance runners all from our area.
Montgomery senior Hanne Thomsen holds the meet record from 2023 at 2:12.47. At the big Dublin meet this year she ran the fastest Empire 800 ever at 2:10.18. She is a three time State Cross Country Division III champion. 2022 State champ at 3200 meters. And is already a three time Redwood Empire Track & Field runner of the year. Thomsen first won this meet in 2022 as a freshman.
Running on her home stadium you would think this would be a cake walk for her BUT.
This is a year like no other when it comes to the 800.
The Empire record she beat was by a sophomore from Technology named Josie Hill. She first broke the Empire record indoors back in February at 2:11.57 and then became the first ever to crack the 2:10 mark with a 2:09.12 a week ago. Then to make the race even hotter add in the 2024 Viking Classic champion (2:17.89), another sophomore in Cardinal Newman’s Ashlin Mallon who has already gone 2:13.76 this season. Ashlin of course was not alive yet when her mom Julia Stamps won this race in 1996 at 2:15.0.
Who ever wins this race the podium awards should be quite a sight as the medals will be given out by five time 800 meter record breaker Laurie Hollingworth from Piner from 1980.
Girls Evolution of Redwood Empire Track & Field 800 meters
880 yds
2:33.9 Jody Garrard, Ukiah 1975
2:24.4 Cindy Peterson, Montgomery 1976
2:22.0 Denise King, Ukiah 1977, = to 2:21.42 800m
2:21.6 Laurie Hollingworth, Piner 4/12/80 SR All-City, = to 2:21.02 800m
800m
2:18.7 Laurie Hollingworth, Piner 5/15/80 SCL Finals
2:15.6 Laurie Hollingworth, Piner 5/24/80 NCS 3A
2:14.4 Laurie Hollingworth, Piner 5/31/80 NCS MOC
2:13.16 Laurie Hollingworth, Piner 6/6/80 State
2:12.16 Kerri Woolheater, Casa Grande 6/1/91 State
2:11.71 Kerri Woolheater, Casa Grande 5/30/92 MOC
2:11.57i Josie Hill, Technology 2/1/25 Pacific Indoor
2:10.18 Hanne Thomsen, Montgomery 3/22/25 Dublin
2:09.12 Josie Hill, Technology 4/12/25 Arcadia