Oldham County’s Tula Fawbush now holds the state record in events.
Nearly one year after setting the record in the mile run, the junior broke the steeplechase record with a time of 7:00.12 on April 12 at Eastern.
“It felt pretty good. I was like ‘Really? That’s cool.’ I didn’t even know what the record was for it,’” Fawbush said of the moment she realized she’d etched her name into the record books for a second time. “The first (record) was more exciting I feel because it was a big race and the competition was good. This one, I just ran it to run it. I was just trying to have fun.”
Fawbush’s time is also good for the second best in the country this season.
And she did it with nearly no experience in the event – Fawbush had only competed in the event once prior to setting the record.
“It’s not really common. Only Eastern has it at their meets,” Fawbush said. “The challenging part for me was the water jump. At our track, we don’t have a water jump to train on, so I was like ‘Hopefully I don’t fall,’ but I think I did good on the endurance bit.”
Oldham County coach Courtney Wayland said Fawbush’s performance is a testament to her preparation.
“She is something special, for lack of better words for it,” Wayland said. “It just shows that there’s so much more than physical preparation, and there’s a lot more to be said about mental preparation for the races they compete in.”
Fawbush said she will place an added emphasis on bettering her time in steeplechase following the impressive performance.
“I’m actually going to run steeple at our next meet this upcoming weekend to try to go to nationals,” Fawbush said. “My high school coach said I could excel at it, and my mom wants me to try to go to college for it now. It’s quite a new development.”
Fawbush will also look to challenge for a state title in the mile after finishing third in 3A last June.