Taylor Eddington stormed to the state record in the 300-meter hurdle prelims on Friday. Photo by Monica Whitt
It may have been the prelims, but Tri-Valley’s Taylor Eddington wasted no time rewriting the record books at the ASAA State Track & Field Championships in Anchorage.
The senior from Healy sped to the fastest time in Alaska prep history in the 300-meter hurdles, clocking 43.31 seconds to trim 0.18 off the 10-year-old state record.
According to ASAA, state records can only be established at the state championships.
The former record was set by Thunder Mountain’s Naomi Welling in 2016, a multi-time state champion in the hurdles and horizontal jumps, who went on to compete collegiately at Brigham Young University.
Eddington, who remains undefeated against in-state competition in the event, lopped 0.86 seconds off her previous best set at the Region II Championships two weeks ago.
The defending state champion posted the top time in the prelims by 4.10 seconds, while qualifying for Saturday’s finals in four events — the 100, 200, 100 hurdles and 300 hurdles.
Eddington won all four at the region meet, making her a 16-time region champion in track and field, including relays. She is poised to add to her collection of state hardware, as a five-time state champion (1 cross country, 4 track) and multi-time state medalist.
The Tri-Valley standout also joins a short list of athletes in setting state records during the prelims, most notably Ketchikan’s Jason Lorig (100) in 2024 and Bartlett’s Doug Herron (800) in 1985.
Eddington’s time doubles as the Alaska prep record — the top mark regardless of meet — while Lorig and Herron earned or lowered theirs during the summer.
Alaska Girls All-Time 300m hurdles
- Taylor Eddington, Tri-Valley, 43.31 (2026)
- Naomi Welling, Thunder Mountain, 43.49 (2016)
- Jordyn Bruce, Eagle River, 43.80 (2016)
- Lara Kelley, Chugiak, 44.93 (1994)
- Gretta Pickett, West, 45.01 (2016)
- Jana Schaafsma, Soldotna, 45.11 (2001)
- Rosie Smith, Bartlett, 45.19 (2012)
- Karessa Fraser, West Valley, 45.26 (1999)
- Mary Glaze, Nikiski, 45.44 (2004)
- Zee Zee Young, Dimond, 45.49 (2010)
Source: Alaska Sports Report
