Five months ago, Lyric Ford wrapped up her successful cross country career by getting her fourth all-state medal.

This spring, the Montgomery County senior is setting her sights on ending her track career with another trip to the awards podium at the Class 3 state meet in Jefferson City.
Ford finished with all-state medals in the 1,600 in each of the last two years. She placed fifth as a sophomore and fourth as a junior.

“I set my goals slightly higher than the way I performed last year,” Ford said. “I’m hoping I can move into the ranks a little bit.”

Ford finished with a 5:16 in the 1,600 last year’s state meet, six seconds behind champion Lilian Jackson of St. Charles West. She came up two places short of an all-state medal in the 800, finishing 10th with a personal-best 2:22.

Ford said she was thrilled that she was one of eight Wildcats to leave Jefferson City with an all-state medal at the two-day meet.

“That was very exciting,” Ford said. “I hope I can do it again.”

Ford began her senior year on March 21 on a high note, winning the 800 and 1,600 at the Montgomery County Early Invite. She won the 1,600 with a 5:20.35, edging Tolton Catholic senior Olivia Andrews by nearly four-tenths of a second. She won the 800 with a 2:31.

Ford competed under cloudy and chilly conditions at the Early Invite, just like she did at the state cross country meet in November, where she finished fourth.

“We expected the whole day thinking that it’s going to have a downpour during the meet,” said Ford, who won four events in last year’s Early Invite. “It’s going to be cold and it’s going to be windy. It was cold and slightly breezy, but there really was no rain. Hey, I’m not complaining.”

Ford said her mother, Miranda, was pretty emotional since it is the beginning of her last season with the MCHS track team.

“My mom was up at the stands,” the senior said. “I haven’t started racing yet and she started crying.”

Ford has been valuable for the Wildcats in the distance events ever since she joined them in her sophomore year. In addition to her two all-state medals, Ford has a total of 35 first-place finishes and is the school-record holder in the 1,600 with a 5:09.75 that she set in her second-place finish at the Class 3, District 4 at MCHS last spring.

Ford also helped the Wildcats win two Eastern Missouri Conference championships. A year ago, she won the 800, 1,600 and 3,200 at the league meet at MCHS.

Ford, who plans to compete in cross country and track at Maryville University next year, said she has mixed emotions about her third and final year with the MCHS track team.

“It’s very exciting, but it is kind of sad knowing that each race that goes by, I’m slowly getting closer to the end,” Ford said.