The timing was just right.
Helias junior Kaitlyn Shea knocked five seconds off her personal-best time in the 1,600-meter run Friday afternoon as she earned a state medal in the MSHSAA Class 3 Track and Field Championships at Dwight T. Reed Stadium.
"The state meet is a great time to do that," Helias coach Chip Malmstrom said.
Shea finished with a time of 5:12.34 while placing seventh in the event.
"She ran a great race," Malmstrom said.
Shea will have the chance for two additional medals today. She will be part of Helias' 4x800-meter relay team in addition to participating in the 3,200-meter run.
"She's got a lot of momentum going into (today)," Malmstrom said. "I think we're going to see big things from her."
Shea's two points were the only scored Friday for the Lady Crusaders.
Kylie Frank of the Lady Crusaders suffered a strained hamstring in the 1,600, which forced her to pull out of the 800-meter run final later Friday.
Malmstrom said Frank is questionable to run in the 4x800 today. Allison Wieberg would join Shea, Macy Randolph and Molly Light in the event.
"(Wieberg has) run in the event a couple of times this year, and she's very capable of running at state," Malmstrom said.
On the boys side, Helias advanced to the today's finals in four events.
Josh Woodruff moved on in a pair of events. The sophomore is the No. 2 qualifier in the 200-meter dash and No. 6 in the 110-meter hurdles.
Woodruff, who qualified with a 22.21, could have his eyes set on the 200-meter state record of 21.12 set by Naron Rollins of Platte County in 2012.
"If we have a good day (today) and things line up right, he could threaten that," Malmstrom said.
Malmstrom said Woodruff is the first Helias athlete to advance to the state finals in a hurdles event in at least a decade.
"Josh is so easy to coach because he's so athletic," Malmstrom said. "I don't know if I'm a good coach, but I can help him psychologically, to help him stay within himself."
Woodruff also ran the anchor leg on the Helias 4x200- and 4x400-meter relays along with Ryan Tannehill, J.C. Szumigala and Jordan Walker.
The 4x200 team qualified third for today's finals with a time of 1:29.44.
"It wasn't great," Malmstrom said. "You just want to do enough to move to the finals."
The Crusaders did more than that in their final race of the day. The 4x400 team posted the fastest qualifying time with a 3:22.71.