Lovejoy’s Kailey Littlefield keeps lofty goals even after setting state-meet record in 800

AUSTIN — Lovejoy’s Kailey Littlefield is only a sophomore in high school, but she is already well aware of what the qualifying standard is for the U.S. Olympic Trials in the women’s 800 meters.

“2:02,” she said.

It’s 2:02.50 to be exact, but Littlefield is well on her way to hitting that prestigious time someday.

Littlefield won her second straight state championship in the Class 5A girls 800 on Friday night at Mike A. Myers Stadium, breaking the UIL state-meet record for all classifications by running 2:06.21. That broke the record of 2:06.71 that was set by McKinney Boyd’s Aaliyah Miller in 2016.

Littlefield had to shatter the state-meet record to win, because Cedar Park sophomore Isabel Conde De Frankenberg also broke the old record, finishing second in 2:06.59 after Littlefield won an all-out sprint to the finish line over the final 100 meters.

“It feels amazing,” Littlefield said. “I’m so glad I had Isabel, because I knew we were going to push each other. I knew what the state record was, so I was just shooting for that.”

Littlefield is already in elite company, considering that Miller won an NCAA championship in the indoor 800 for Baylor in 2021, running a meet-record 2:00.69. Miller still holds the overall high school state record with a time of 2:02.96 in 2016, and Littlefield’s time Friday ranks fifth on that all-time list.

It was a repeat of the finish at state last year, when Littlefield won in 2:08.04 and De Frankenberg took second in 2:09.21. Littlefield finished undefeated in the 800 this season and has not lost a race in the event at a UIL meet since finishing third at the Coppell Relays in the first meet of her high school career last year.

“I think last year [at state] was a little more of an unexpected win,” Littlefield said. “This year I came in confident and ready and just felt great.”

Littlefield has been helped by having her mother, Carly, as her high school coach. The sophomore thinks her first 800 came when she was about 9.

“I’ve always had a passion for it, just growing up and being around it,” Littlefield said. “It’s amazing that I get to live with her and then go train with her every single day. We just have a special bond.”

In postseason meets this year, Littlefield ran the 400, 800 and 1,600, so she had a wide range of training to help her prepare for Friday’s race. She also qualified for state in the 1,600 and was set to run that later Friday night.

Littlefield has a chance to win four consecutive state titles in the 800, but she has much bigger goals beyond that.

“One of my biggest goals is to go to the Olympic Trials,” Littlefield said. “I think the next couple of years, 2:02, that’s the goal.”

On Twitter: @DMNGregRiddle

1/87John Rutledge of Dallas Highland Park looks to the scoreboard for official times after the boys’ 200m dash at the UIL Track & Field State Meet in Austin, Texas on Friday, May 13, 2022. Rutledge took second just .02 seconds behind first place.(Angela Wang / Special Contributor)