La Grange’s Macie Collier Hurdles Her Way to a State Bronze Medal

Winning a bronze medal at the 2026 4A UIL State Track meet at the University of Texas at Austin last Thursday, La Grange junior Macie Collier made school history as one of the few individual LHS female athletes to stand on the podium.

Collier finished her 300-meter hurdle race with a time of 43.43 seconds, and she said the moment she crossed the finish line was surreal.

“I was just happy to be there,” Collier said. “I think that was something super beneficial for me – not being worried about performance or what the outcome could be, but just the excitement to be able to have that opportunity. Finishing the race, it was surreal to finish through the line and know that I had finally accomplished my biggest goal.”

This was Collier’s second trip to the state meet, with the first being her freshman season in 2024, where she ultimately placed eighth. While she did not qualify for state last year, Collier did not shy away from putting in the work to make it back.

“Last year was so hard for me to be happy with the outcome of not making it to state,” Collier said. “I think not making it gave me a sense of drive and determination to work harder to keep making progress.”

At the regional level, only the two fastest athletes in each event automatically advance to state. A wild card is awarded to the fastest 3rd place time of the four regions, which completes the roster of the nine total competitors.

After running a time of 43.39 seconds at the 4A Region III meet on May 2, Collier received the wild card for the 300-meter hurdles and found out she was headed back to race at Mike A. Meyers Stadium in Austin.

“We were the first region to finish that day, and I knew, based on the times of the other regions going into their meets, what time she needed to get to have a chance at getting the wild card,” said Girls Track Head Coach Ginger Cooper. “We actually didn’t know until we were at dinner that she got it. We stopped in Jacksonville to eat on the way home, and that’s when the last few regions were finishing their races. That’s when we found out that she was the fastest bronze.”

Collier was joined at state by Cooper, as well as Athletic Director Kyle Cooper and Boys Track Head Coach Chance Willard.

“She’s an amazing kid, both as an athlete and just as a person,” Ginger Cooper said. “We have a really close relationship, so it’s pretty special to see her get to accomplish what she’s set out to do.”

While Collier is a multisport athlete, participating also in varsity girls volleyball and basketball, she hopes to continue her athletic career in track following her graduation in 2027.

“I’ve already started to get some responses, but this summer, I think I am going to do summer track with LC Express, and I think that’s going to be a big help in getting my name out there and getting some traction,” Collier said.

Collier attributes her successes in the 300-meter hurdles to her ability to have a positive mindset.

“Some other athletes can be like, ‘The 300 is so longit’s so hard’, but I know if I’m confident, that gives me the upper hand,” Collier said. “I feel like a lot of it is mindset and mentality and knowing what I’m capable of.”

This ability to find the positives helped Collier in her race at state when she was positioned in lane 8, a lane many athletes have a superstitious disapproval of.

“One thing I’m big about as a runner is having someone to chase, so when I heard I was lane 8, I realized I was going to have almost no one in front of me, “ Collier said.

Despite this initial setback, with the help of her coach, Collier was able to spin the situation into a positive light.

“In practice, I have been focusing on learning to count my steps between hurdles, and we realized not having anyone in front of me during the race would allow me to focus on counting,” Collier said. “Overall, the lane assignment was probably the best one I could have gotten, even though I was afraid of it at first.”