Loyd Star sophomore Abby Thomas captured gold in the 1600-meter and 3200-meter runs Friday at the Class 2A track and field state championship at Pearl.

“I would like to thank God and give him all the glory for blessing me with the opportunity,” said Thomas. “I am truly blessed and humble about the opportunity to win a state championship in both runs. I would also like to thank my coach, family and friends for supporting me. This was an exciting season for me and I look forward to next year.”

Thomas secured her first gold medal in the 1600-meter run with a time of 5:36. Her second gold medal came in the 3200-meter run with a time of 12:00. She has won first place in both distance competitions in district, regionals, south state and in state. In each run that Thomas competed in, her final time continued to improve.

Coach Michelle Case praised Thomas’ accomplishments.

“Abby Thomas is a tremendous athlete. She continues to improve in each and every run with newer and faster finish times,” she said. “She gives 110 percent whether it’s at practice or a meet. She is dedicated, hard-working and determined.”

In cross-country last fall, Thomas finished as the second fastest girl in Class 2A with a time of 21:22 to secure the silver medal.

Another accomplishment for Thomas in her sophomore year was that she placed 34th across all school classifications in the state.

“Abby placed 34th out of 658 best-of-the-best runners in every division from 1A to 6A. When you put it into perspective, you see what an awesome runner this talented young lady is,” said Case.