EUGENE – Carter Wachs learned a valuable lesson while anchoring and finishing second in the 4×100 relay that paid off in the Class 5A 100-meter dash.

He needed to relax.

“All I needed to focus on was – don’t tense up, just run relaxed, have fun and win this thing,” said the sophomore sprinter from Redmond High. “It was a really fun race with a lot of competition out there.”

Wachs, who did not even reach the finals of the Intermountain Conference championships as a freshman, announced himself at the state track and field championships at Hayward Field with a time of 10.86 seconds to win the 100 on Saturday.

Adjusting his approach to racing was perhaps more beneficial to Wachs’ improvement from his freshman to sophomore year than his physical improvement.

“I went from thinking ‘I’ll beat two guys,’ to thinking ‘I’m going to beat all these guys,’” Wachs said. “I’m going to have fun doing it, but I’m going to beat these guys.”

The IMC was well represented at the top of the podium with Caldera’s Waylon Clarke finishing second, Summit’s Nicholas Leary taking third and Conrad Dodge taking fifth.

“It was awesome with it being all IMC,” Wachs said. “I love those guys and they deserve (this) with all the hard work they have put in.”

Wachs also picked up a second-place finish in the 200 and 4×100 relay.