Hayward's Harper Sheehan wins a record-trading Division 2 400 final

LA CROSSE — The Division 2 girls' 400 meet record changed hands twice in one day, and Harper Sheehan had it when it counted.

In the prelims, Sydney Falkowski of Kettle Moraine Lutheran lowered the meet record to 55.20. In the final, Harper Sheehan of Hayward answered with a 54.56 to win the title and lower the record again — Falkowski pushing her all the way to second in 54.88.

For Sheehan it was the fastest 400 of her life and the latest step in a steady climb: 56.04 last season, 55.85 in the state prelims, and finally 54.56 in the final. Each round, she found a little more.

She is a versatile sprinter, too, with the speed to run 24.33 in the 200 and 11.98 in the 100 and the strength to drop to 2:19 in the 800 — a range that lets Hayward use her almost anywhere. But the signature mark is the one she earned in a duel: two runners trading a record over a single afternoon, each making the other faster, with Sheehan coming out the Division 2 400 champion and record-holder.