The Wright City senior did so in a dramatic way and left her mark as one of the top athletes in school history. Kowalik captured two titles, winning the 1,600- and 3,200-meter runs at the MSHSAA Class 2 Track and Field Championships held at Lincoln University's Dwight T. Reed Stadium. "Getting it once would have been awesome, but twice," said Kowalik pausing. "It feels good. It really does. Now I wish I had next year. Ending like this is awesome." She ends as the state's best. Kowalik opened her thrilling weekend by easily winning the 1,600 on Friday, setting a personal record when she clocked a time of 5 minutes, 11.95 seconds. She beat runner-up Jordan Esry of Penney by seven seconds. The following day in the 3,200, once again she took the lead midway through the eight-lap event and garnered top honors in 11:38.59. Twin sisters from Macon, Cindy and Karen Grauel, followed in second and third, respectively, in 11:42.31 and 11:43.64. Kowalik also competed in the 300 hurdles. Once she snuck into Saturday's finals, she wound up placing eighth to earn another medal. She ran the race in 47.01 seconds. Lindsay Vollmer of Penney won the state crown in 44.08, beating favorite Precious Selmon of Crystal City, who was second in 44.57. Kowalik, a University of Missouri recruit, capped her prep career with nine state track medals, three of those coming over the weekend, and a four state cross country medals overall. When Sue Wright, longtime Wright City track coach, saw Kowalik coming down the backstretch on the final lap of the 1,600, she bolted for the finish. She wanted to be the first person to hug and congratulate her talented senior. "You don't tell them it's their last chance, they know it is and they go out there and they give it their all," Wright said. "I always tell the kids, don't leave anything out there on the track." Kowalik didn't. Her weekend performance erased failed attempts in recent years when she was viewed as a state championship contender. Each time injuries held her back. For the first time, she was healthy. For the first time, she stood atop the medal podium. "You want it for them so bad as seniors," Wright said. "She had all the talent last year and of course it was injuries. She worked so hard to be healthy this year. You get goose bumps because this is what you want for the kid. She has worked so dang hard. She is very deserving." When Kowalik felt some pain earlier this spring in her hip, which caused her to pull up lame midway through the 3,200 last year at state and forced her to miss the finals of the 300 hurdles and 1,600, her experience allowed her to battle through it. She was not going to be denied this time around. "(My hip) was a bigger problem last year than I wanted it to be," Kowalik said. "This year, this was it. If it started hurting, I let it go. Every practice this year, I practiced 10 times harder because I wanted it." In the past, she never went home and practiced more. This spring, rarely did she not expend extra energy late at night. As her mileage went up, her times kept decreasing. With the last day of school on Wednesday, Kowalik stayed away from the senior parties and other activities that could have swayed her from achieving her goals. Now, she has plenty of time to party and savor her accomplishments. "To put yourself through it, you want to win," Kowalik said. "I had to stay home. I wanted to win." She did. "It's more than a dream," Kowalik said. "It's awesome. It's more than what you expect."