PORT ANGELES — Jolene Millsap can’t stop.
She won’t even slow down.
Millsap finally achieved her goal of breaking the Port Angeles school record in the 100-meter dash at the final event of her high school career, the Class 2A state track and field meet.
The senior ran 12.31 seconds in the 100 preliminaries, surpassing Chantea Watson’s 10-year record of 12.35 seconds set in 2004.
In the next day’s state finals at Mount Tahoma High School, Millsap claimed fourth place in the 100, fulfilling another goal of a top-five finish.
She also took ninth at state in the 200, running a personal-best 25.40 seconds, which ranks third on the Roughriders’ all-time list.
Millsap, who has been chosen as the All-Peninsula Girls Track and Field MVP, finishes her high school career as one of the most decorated sprinters in Port Angeles history, but she isn’t done yet.
Earlier this year, she signed a letter of intent to run for Olympic College in Bremerton next season.
And she already has a goal to chase down.
“Probably to break 12 [seconds], and run an 11.9, or something like that,” Millsap.
“I’m going to push myself to do that. Since I’ve been running 12s, low 12s, I want to break that now.
“I’m excited to work in college.”
She has already started putting in the work, or rather, she never stopped.
Soon after her high school graduation, she went on vacation to San Diego, where she still did daily workouts.
Then, when she returned to Port Angeles, she resumed her daily workouts, including athletic training three mornings every week with Port Angeles football coach Tom Wahl and former college track coach and college and professional strength and conditioning coach Greg Halberg.
“Build more quickness and speed and power so that way I can fit right in at college, because I know college is going to be twice as much more work,” Millsap said of the purpose of those training sessions.
“So, just prepare myself for that. And just keep myself in shape because I can’t take a break, because it’s a bad thing to take breaks.
“Keep the intensity level high.”
Millsap first began sprinting during her freshman year, and she was fast from the start.
“Once I realized I was going to be a star at it, I’m like, ‘OK, I’m going to do it,’” Millsap said.
“I like to go fast and run against people.”
Being fast wasn’t enough; Millsap combined her natural talent with a uncommon level of dedication.
Some athletes are hard workers, others are naturally gifted. Few, like Millsap, are both.
“When you find the rare one that has both things, you have records broken,” Port Angeles track and field coach Bill Tiderman said.
“Those are the ones that break records and place at state.”
Millsap’s commitment makes her school record and state placement especially gratifying for her coach.
“It’s great for me to see someone rewarded for the effort they put in,” Tiderman said.
“It was great to have her come running over to me, a big smile on her face, for a hug and say, ‘Fourth in state!’”
At Olympic College, Millsap plans to keep running the 100, 200 and relays, and likely will add the 400.
She’ll also run cross country in the fall, as she has the past three years for the Roughriders.
“I’m crazy about running,” Millsap said.
“People are like, ‘Why do you do cross country?’ Because it keeps me in shape and builds my endurance and then it builds a bigger base for my muscles. That’s why I do it.
“Some of the workouts are really hard-core, but it helps.”
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Sports Editor Lee Horton can be reached at 360-417-3525 or at lhorton@peninsuladailynews.com.
