Rowan Barry doesn’t let an injury derail her state championship goals
Rowan Barry of Cumberland's Greely High School added another title to her resume on Saturday, winning the girls 800 meters at the Class B track and field state championship meet in Freeport with a time of 2 minutes, 17.48 seconds.
The win came at the end of a season that asked far more of Barry mentally than physically. A stress fracture in her right tibia, first diagnosed in October during the cross country season, limited the senior to just one regular-season 800-meter race. That single appearance was enough to post a qualifying time for states, but the bulk of her spring was spent in rehabilitation rather than competition.
Barry entered Saturday's final as the No. 3 seed, behind Freeport's Lucy Huggett and York's Zoe Carroll. She had already finished second to Carroll in the 1,600 meters earlier in the meet, and would later place fifth in the 3,200.
The final itself played out as a chess match between Barry and Huggett. Barry sat in second through the halfway point, tucked just behind the Freeport runner, before shifting to the middle lane with about 300 meters remaining to make her move. She took the lead for good with roughly 250 meters left and never relinquished it, holding off Mount Desert Island's Marlee Catanese by .31 seconds down the stretch.
Greely coach David Dowling said the race plan was straightforward: stay with the leaders until 200 meters remained, then see what Barry had left.
"She breathes through just her nose lots of times," Dowling said. "I say when her mouth is open, she's pushing it. She's tough."
Barry crossed the line grimacing, every ounce of effort visible on her face. Moments later, the grimace gave way to a broad smile as she accepted her medal from Maine distance running legend Joan Benoit Samuelson, for whom the Freeport facility is named.
The winning time was nearly four seconds slower than the Class B meet record of 2:13.60 Barry set when she won the same event a year ago. Given the circumstances, Dowling said, simply competing was the victory.
"Especially at the state meet, it really comes down to, you've got to put yourself in a place to get the win," he said.
For Barry, the result validated a long comeback. She won the Class B cross country state title last season while the injury was already present, and has spent the months since managing pain and rebuilding strength.
"I'm really just coming back now," Barry said. "There's a lot of pressure to defend my title, but also I wasn't at my best. I just wanted to come out and see what I could do. I knew I had a shot at it. Just send it, I guess."
She acknowledged the gap between her current form and her personal standard.
"I ran really well last year, and I know what I'm capable of, even if I haven't shown it in a while," she said.
Barry said the final straightaway came down to mental resolve as much as physical conditioning.
"I was just thinking, how bad do you want it, thinking of all the training," she said. "(I) didn't want to cross the line with any regrets."
The Class B championship meet was held Saturday at the Joan Benoit Samuelson Track in Freeport. Barry, still dealing with the effects of the stress fracture though she has been cleared to compete, will continue her running career at Cornell University next fall, where she plans to race cross-country and track.
The boys team title went to York and the girls team title to Yarmouth.
