Leland's Katie Nelms was a picture of focus as she prepared for the finals of the 100-meter hurdles at the 91st CIF State Track and Field Meet at Buchanan High in Clovis on Saturday.

That mindset could have easily been shattered when she was spiked in the lower left leg by a runner to her left coming over the third hurdle, but the Chargers junior kept her composure and made a big move in front of the 9,517 fans in attendance.

Nelms leaned at the finish line and took second with a time of 13.95, edging the third- and fourth-place finishers by one and three hundredths of a second. Kori Carter of Claremont won in 13.59. The race featured the top four hurdlers in the country, with Nelms ranked No. 4.

"You hear about things like that happening, but never think it can happen to you," said Nelms of the spike to her leg. "After that I realized I had to push real hard between hurdles to have a chance. That's something I've been working on in training to finish strong in the last half."

Nelms also won a medal in the 300 hurdles, finishing fourth in 42.94. Nelms said to run in the 41-second range she needs to switch her lead leg on every hurdle in the 300, but she went with the right leg first on the opening two hurdles.

"I lost a bit of focus there and it came back to bite me," Nelms said. "But I'm really happy with the meet I had."

NewGirls 100H State Finals

2009 California State 300 Meter Hurdle Medalist