That pushed him on Wednesday in the Class 3-A state cross country meet at Sugar House Park, where he not only had the fastest time of the day, but also the fastest finish in state history.
His time of 14 minutes, 54.6 seconds was about 13 seconds faster than the old record. The time was possible because, in his mind, Puskedra chases times and people that aren't really there - like the Stephen Clarks of Skyline and the Spencer Andersons of Davis, who finished first and seventh, respectively, in the Class 5-A race.
The second-place 3-A runner, Bear River's Chris Brower, came in about 1:20 after Puskedra.
"Whenever he races, he chases ghosts," said Dan Quinn, who is Puskedra's track coach, but works with the senior closely in the offseason. "The kids from the other regions, from other state classifications - he wants to chase them and run the fastest time of the day. That's the ghost, that's the time."
In fact, Quinn said Puskedra has broken the course record in every race he has participated in this season.
But Puskedra's superior run wasn't enough for his Bulldogs to capture the state title, as Ogden had three runners in the top 10 for its first championship since back-to-back titles in 2001 and 2002. Park City, Cedar City, Bear River and Judge rounded out the top five.
Class 5-A: Davis came in as the underdog, but left Sugar House Park as back-to-back state champions as Seth Gutzwiller and Spencer Anderson came in fifth and seventh overall.
Class 4-A: Timpview finished with back-to-back state championships, thanks in part to having Jonathan Nelson earn the first-place individual trophy.
Class 2-A: Parowan had three runners - Tyler Robinson, Henry Hornberger and Robbie Tripp - finish in the top 10 to capture its first state title since 2001.
Class 1-A: St. Joseph won its seventh title in nine years with junior Clay Ahif coming in fourth overall.
csun@sltrib.com
In short
* Judge's Memorial Luke Puskedra sets a record at the state meet by coming in with a time of 14 minutes, 54.6 seconds, becoming the first runner in state history to come in under 15 minutes.
