"When she found out that this was going to be a finals-only format, there was a little cry of anguish," Grand Island coach Jeff Stern said.

An all-finals format is tough for Higgins because two of her events the 400-meter dash and the 300 hurdles are back-to-back. That means she has a very short period of rest between two rather grueling events.

"She has run that before and she knows it's tough," Stern said. "She's a tough competitor. The next thing that came out of her mouth was, 'Keep me in all my events. I don't want to run anything different.'"

Higgins is one of the top track athletes in the state. She finished third in Class A last spring in the 300 hurdles and fourth in the 400.

Higgins also ran on the second place 1,600 relay and the third place 400 relay, both of which set school records.

The G.I. Invite was particularly tough for Higgins because of the competition from Lincoln Southeast.

First she went head-to-head with Katie Birkel in the 400. Birkel won in 56.8 seconds. Higgins was second in a personal-best 57.9, just a few hundredths of a second off the school record.

Then, only about half an hour later, it was on to the 300 hurdles where she faced Southeast's KK Houser.

Meet officials gave Higgins a little break. Even though they were already behind schedule, they took their time setting up the hurdles for the 300.

Higgins got off to a slow start over the first couple of hurdles, but was gaining in the end.

"I didn't hurdle well until the end," she said. "I struggled the first 200."

Houser won in 46.6 with Higgins second in 47.7.

"I could have beaten Houser if I hadn't had that 400," Higgins said.

That 400 was particularly impressive considering that the runners were running into a strong southerly wind coming down the stretch.

"I didn't notice it on my 400 or my 300," Higgins said. "But that four-by-four, it kind of killed me."

Higgins' tough day ended with her leadoff leg on the 1,600 relay. It began with her leadoff leg on the 400 relay.

Leading off on the relays suits Higgins just fine.

"I've always run first legs," Higgins said. "I'm pretty good out of the blocks. I like running first."

The Islanders were without a couple of their top performers. Sprinter Alex Armes, the 100 and 200 all-class champion last spring, was at a volleyball tournament while Ariel Krolikowski was out after having her knee scoped on Thursday.

Stern said Krolikowski could be back in a couple of weeks.

But the athletes that did compete on Saturday were certainly pushed, especially Higgins.

"I think having good competition brings out the best in all the athletes and that was very evident today," Stern said. "There were a lot of PRs throughout a lot of the events. I was just really tickled with the performances today."

The Islanders were pretty well worn out by the time the day ended. That's not a bad thing at this time of year.

"They're definitely tired," Stern said. "They got a good workout. These kind of mid-season meets are really important for conditioning. It's really good to see them get out and compete really hard and run the great times they did today.

Higgins faces two more meets that will be all-final events. The first comes Thursday at the Papillion-LaVista South Invitational.

Then there is the Central Nebraska Track and Field Championships, sponsored by The Independent, on April 21.

After those grueling meets, the others will seem like a walk in the park.