On Saturday, June 6, in her last race in a Bison uniform, Rose Lamberts ‘26 stood atop the podium at the Minnesota State High School League track and field State Championship meet at St. Michael-Albertville High School. Lamberts had just claimed the 300-meter hurdle crown, cementing herself as one of the best hurdlers in State history.
For anyone who follows Minnesota track and field closely, this would not have been a major shock. After a stellar senior season, Lamberts had built quite a resume spanning from success in the 100 and 300 meter hurdles all the way to the 100, 200, and 400 meter sprints. Over the course of the season in the 300 hurdles alone, she reset her school record multiple times over and managed to run the third fastest time ever in state history. However, if you were to back up just two years in time, many, including Lamberts herself, may be shocked to see just how much she would go on to accomplish throughout her high school career; in the 300 hurdles, no less.
From a young age, Lamberts always had a knack for speed. But when she first joined track as a middle schooler, she never pictured herself as a standout hurdler.
“I originally joined track in seventh grade,” Lamberts said. “It was either that or softball, and I decided that track would be a little bit more of my speed, considering that I’m naturally geared towards running faster. That’s a natural talent of mine, and track seemed like the best outlet for it. I started hurdling. I fell in the 100-meter hurdles in one of my last races in seventh grade and ended up breaking my elbow. Now I have a pretty nasty scar.”
That incident, combined with her ability to be successful in other events, caused Lamberts to avoid hurdling for the first half of her high school career.
“After that [injury], I hurdled a little bit in eighth grade and then I didn’t hurdle in freshman year,” Lamberts said. “I hurdled at the beginning and then I was too nervous to do it, so I just ended up being a full sprinter.”
In the middle of her sophomore year, Lamberts experienced an ACL tear, which would become a major barrier in her career that she had to overcome.
“Sophomore year, because track season was six months post op[eration] of my ACL injury, I wasn’t allowed to jump and I wasn’t allowed to hurdle,” Lamberts said. “The only thing I could run was the 100 and 4×400. I wasn’t allowed to run the curves at such a high speed and angle, it was bad for the tendon.”
Eventually, the tear would go on to reshape the trajectory of Lamberts’ career from short sprints, to her now most successful event, the 300-meter hurdles.
“I ended up picking up the hurdles last year (junior year) for the first time, and it wasn’t really in mind at all what the times were for the 300 hurdles,” Lamberts said. “Ever since I was a freshman I wanted to be a state champ, but I thought it was going to be in the 100 or 200 back then. I had to understand that is not what I am geared towards. Most people don’t return to their sport after an ACL injury, and on top of that, the majority never get back to where they were before tearing it. I’m way faster than I was before which, by the grace of God, is a huge blessing to be able to do this with my body. [But] understanding there was a chance that because of the significance of the injury and how damaging it is, especially for your power which is a big component for the 100 or 200, it was very heartbreaking for me to accept that I would never be good at those again. Which wasn’t really the case, I ended up PR’ing in both of those. But also, it taught me that my natural tendencies are not the short sprints. Tearing my ACL along with the guidance of my coaches and dad especially, allowed me to really turn around and focus on the 400 and 300 hurdles.”
This realization led Lamberts to success in hurdling her junior year. Soon, she would shift her attention to the event in her only second year competing seriously, this time as a senior.
“Before the season started, I was determined to win state in the 300 hurdles, which was a bit of a lofty goal because 44.50 seconds was my PR (personal record) from last year and the state time last year was a 43 which was pretty fast,” Lamberts said. “I think there were maybe one or two people who ran 42s last year. This year the competition really picked up.”
For many, speaking about these big goals may seem intimidating, but Lamberts leveraged the people around her to support and hold her accountable.
“I would not have been able to do it confidence-wise if it wasn’t for my coaches like Coach Stangl who [believed] every single time that I told a goal that I wasn’t even [sure of] like I want to be a state champ,” Lamberts said. “When I spoke it out I didn’t even believe it could happen. I wanted it to happen but I didn’t believe in it myself. So, having Stangl, my dad, my mom, and all of my sisters to help and support me along with all my teammates from across Top Self, high school, my friends, and my coworkers, it’s really scary to put your dreams out there and to speak life into them because as soon as you say them out loud your going to be held to that standard. Then if you fail, they can come up to whatever judgement they want. But what if you win and achieve all of your dreams? Then you have so many wonderful people to share that dream with and then they get to feel like they are a part of something fantastic.”
This community is something Lamberts credits as having some of the biggest impacts on her throughout her high school career.
“There were so many little moving pieces of people who invested in me,” Lamberts said. “Whether it was people who gave me hugs after my race, or sent me texts to say hi and ask how my race went, or even the lunch ladies asking me how my races are going and when my next meet is, there are so many incredible people who took time to invest in me and I think having those people and that support is what changes and makes an experience. I’m so grateful for all of these people.”
With all of this support and belief, Lamberts would go on to have an extremely successful season that ended exactly where she had envisioned it, lined up against the state’s best with a chance for the championship title.
“The day of the race was really nerve wracking for me,” Lamberts said. “The second that I got to the meet I was fine. It was just waiting for the entire day before we could get out there and start warming up and I could actually start putting my money where my mouth was. When I got on the line and the announcer announced me I felt a lot of that stress leave. Stangl and I talked a lot about getting to the blocks and smiling because it means that I am about to cook and have put in so much work that whatever happens is going to be my complete race and then me putting it together and smoothing it out is what it resulted in.”
Lamberts would end up crossing the line first in 41.94 seconds and winning the state championship that once seemed like a very ambitious goal. It capped off a historic season and career and proved that no injury, obstacle, or even starting too late can prevent success if you have the right mindset and work ethic.
However, that event wouldn’t be the only one Lamberts medaled in at state as she would soon turn around to run the 4×400 meter relay alongside Kennedy Herrboldt ‘26, Alyssa Simonson ‘28, and her sister, Abigail Lamberts ‘29. The team would go on to place seventh.
“Originally, the plan was for me to run all open events and no relays [at sections], since the 4×4 qualifying time for state was faster than last year,” Lamberts said. “[Coach Scott] Palmer came up to me and asked if I wanted to give it a shot. I decided that I wanted to give my little sister, Abigail a chance at state and I wanted to make it special for us to have our probably last ever race together on the same team. State finals was our fourth time ever running together as a team. We ran 4:07 at true team which was our first time and at section finals we ran 3:56 and cut off 11 seconds to qualify. Having that memory of getting to celebrate with Abi and Kennedy and Alyssa and all of us like that team is never going to happen again and I’m so glad I decided to do it with them and I’m so proud of how they performed. I think that’s what we succeeded at was making memories.”
Lamberts will soon take many of these memories with her as she heads off to compete in division one track and field at the University of Montana. In Buffalo, she will leave behind a strong legacy as one of the school’s most decorated track and field athletes. Her advice to younger athletes looking to mirror her success is simple but powerful.
“The biggest advice I would give [to younger athletes] is to dream big,” Lamberts said. “It’s very scary to dream big especially when you feel like there is no reason to and no evidence to support that you can dream big. For me, it was coming into the 300 hurdles and saying ‘Hey I want to win’ knowing it would probably take a 41 or a 42 and my first race of the season was a 45. Trusting the process and understanding I can cut off four seconds [was important]. In order to achieve you have to believe in yourself, in others, and in the process.”
