Fairfield’s dynamic duo ready for 2022

FAIRFIELD — In recent years, the Fairfield girls track team has seen itself rise up the ranks in Southeast Iowa. In 2021, a junior-led squad finished in the Top-15 in the state Class 3A ranks, and in 2022, they want more.

The two who will likely lead the Trojans’ charge in 2022 are the same two that helped the squads knock over boundary after boundary last season. Senior teammates Anna Dunlap and Kelsey Pacha are back for one final year after a superb 2021.

Dunlap and Pacha are two of the best short-distance track athletes, not only in the Southeast Conference, but in the entire state of Iowa. They lifted the Trojan girls to the top of the SEC last season, collecting a boatload of points to help Fairfield win the conference meet by a full 50 points.

“We started talking about it early in the season, like ‘we could win a title this year,’” Dunlap said. “And then it actually happened.”

Dunlap won three events in the 2022 SEC meet, winning the 200-meter dash, the 400-meter dash and the 100-meter hurdles. She edged Pacha in the hurdles as the duo notched a 1-2 finish.

The two are no stranger to finishing first and second. They traded wins throughout the year last season, competing and thriving in the 100-meter hurdles, an event that is stacked with talent in Southeast Iowa.

“I like knowing that I like somebody there that can push me in practice and in a race,” Pacha said. “We're always there for each other.”

The two friends stayed red-hot for the rest of the postseason. The two qualified for the state meet at a hypercompetitive district meet in Mt. Pleasant, qualified for the 100-meter hurdle finals at state, and then took two of the Top-6 spots in the Class 3A finals.

“I don't know how I would do it without her,” Dunlap said. “It's good to have someone that I know is also there to push me, but also there to support me.”

Dunlap edged Pacha in the finals last season, taking third while her friend finished in sixth. The two grabbed another big finish in the shuttle hurdle, finishing third place, alongside fellow returners Maya Lane and Brynley Allison.

In all, the Trojans scored 20 points, all on Saturday, to finish 15th in the final standings. Dunlap added a fifth-place finish in the 100-meter dash. The two, along with Lane and Allison, finished eighth in the 4X100, and Pacha was also a state qualifier in the long jump.

The two have already started to impress in 2022. At the indoor track championship, Dunlap edged Pacha in the qualifying heats, finishing first while Pacha took second. In the finals, the results were flipped, as Pacha sneaked past Dunlap for the gold.

“I feel like I kind of get nervous because I know there's going to be someone up there with me,” Pacha said. “But I also enjoy that, because you don't want to win just to win. It means more.”

While the two push each other physically during the race, they make a good team on the mental side of things as well. The duo says lining up side-by-side in major hurdle finals is a big boost in an otherwise nerve-wracking situation.

Dunlap credits Pacha as being the more calm of the two, and helping her shake out the prerace jitters.

“She keeps me calm during warm ups,” Dunlap said. “She keeps it more collected than I get.”

Pacha put it in less delicate terms.

“She can freak out,” joked Pacha. “I tell her to suck it up.”

In the offseason, both runners find different ways to improve. Both Pacha and Dunlap do fall sports and both play basketball, which Dunlap says keeps them sharp. In the summer, Pacha runs the AAU heptathlon circuit, finishing eighth in the AAU Junior Olympics this August.

So with all this success, it’s clear to see the duo, and Fairfield girls’ track in general, have big expectations this spring. Dunlap says the squad feels both a boost of confidence and added pressure coming into the year as the heavy favorites in the SEC.

“I feel like it’s a combination of both,” Dunlap said. “Last year, it felt like we were trying things out, and now there are more expectations.”

And as far as having one final ride with a senior class that has seen booming success? Dunlap says she tries to keep the finality out of her mind.

“I don’t even like to think about it being over, honestly.” Dunlap said.

The Trojans will have their first outdoor meet of the year on Tuesday, March 29, at West Burlington. That will mark the start of a season that could mean big things for Dunlap, Pacha and the entire senior class at FHS, as the group tries to reach even higher grounds in the last run all together.

“It will definitely be sad,” Pacha said. “But I'm glad I get to finish it out with a geat team.”