Emma Stutzman, a Northern Arizona-bound senior at Pomona High in Colorado and an All-American at Nike Cross Nationals and Nike Outdoor Nationals, joins DyeStat editor Erik Boal to discuss her 9:56.34 performance in the invitational 3,200 meters April 8 at the 55th Arcadia Invitational at Arcadia High in California and her competition April 19 in the JeffCo Relays qualifying in Lakewood. Stutzman was one of four athletes in the 3,200 field from Colorado to eclipse the 10-minute barrier, including Isabel Allori from Liberty Common at 9:56.82, Bethany Michalak of Air Academy at 9:57.86 and Brooke Wilson from Valor Christian at 9:59.49, in addition to being one of nine competitors overall. She reflects on the final lap of the race, after running a 9:23.05 split for 3,000 meters and finding herself in eighth place, then producing the fastest last 200 in the entire field to surge and place third overall. Stutzman examines how beneficial doing 200-meter repeats and 500-meter repeats in practice have been in improving her closing speed, in addition to running 4x400-meter relays for Pomona. She explains that her goal at Arcadia was to run faster than 10:05, but Stutzman realized less than a mile into the race that she was under 10-minute pace and made that her new target. Stutzman analyzes being ranked among the top six female distance runners in Colorado prep history for 3,000 meters, 3,200 meters and the 2-mile, and how significant being recognized in that elite company is for her. She also speaks about how meaningful it was to share the experience not only with Allori, Michalak and Wilson, but also Ella Hagen of Summit High in Colorado, who ran 10:13.18 to finish 13th overall. Stutzman shares how she benefited from the time during the winter season to focus on her mental health, and building emotional strength as well as physical fitness, and how she started a daily journal along with her boyfriend Daniel Cardenas, a Pomona High graduate and Pac-12 champion wrestler at 157 pounds as a freshman at Stanford. She also looks forward to the Colorado state championships in May, as well as national outdoor competitions in June, and what her potential can be following a 10:17.32 2-mile at Nike Outdoor Nationals last year at Hayward Field in Eugene, Ore.