She’s a six-time state track and field medalist. She holds six different Salisbury records across a variety of events. Her name is cemented with two Colonial League Meet records. And she has 48 medals credited to her name over her four-year career.

So, what is Lindsay Bauer going to miss the most from her high school days?

The answer might surprise you.

“I miss playing summer basketball a lot, especially with Stellar coming up and everything,” Bauer said in early July. “That’s probably what I’m going to miss the most about high school, being able to play basketball.

“I’ve been playing basketball since I was five, so up until high school I didn’t know that track was a thing or an option for me. Basketball was always my favorite sport, but because I found so much success with track that’s why that became my favorite sport.”

While basketball was Bauer’s first passion, the history books started to write themselves once she discovered the sport of track and field.

En route to her third straight Salisbury Press Female Athlete of the Year award, Bauer put together her most impressive track and field season yet. She broke two Colonial League Meet records at this year’s championships, winning gold in both the triple and long jump events.

A week later she captured district gold in those same events, setting a new personal best in the triple jump at 38 feet, eight inches. Then at states, she earned silver in the triple jump and placed fourth in the long jump in her final high school meet.

“All season my goal was to win states, so of course I was disappointed that I didn’t,” Bauer said. “Looking back on it, I know that some kids would kill to get a medal out there. Second in the state isn’t that bad. It was just really hard at the time considering if I would have jumped the way I had been I could have won.”

Bauer was four inches shy of the mark that won the triple jump at states. While that goal wasn’t attained, she’s well aware that one event won’t define a career that is flooded with accomplishments and accolades.

The medal display in her room includes 17 medals from various invitational meets across the area, 12 from the league championships, 13 from districts and six from states. She’s also the school-record holder in both of her jumping events, as well as the 100- and 200-meter dashes, and the 100- and 300-meter hurdles. Her long jump mark of 19 feet, two inches is the best mark of any Lehigh Valley female ever.

“I definitely accomplished pretty much everything I set out to do,” Bauer said. “I wanted to be a 1,000-point scorer ever since I was a little girl. That was probably one of my favorite memories throughout my four years at Salisbury. Everything with track was always a good time.

“I’m going to have my name on that basketball banner in the gym, and my name is on the track banner a bunch of times. That’s something that will be there forever. It’s a good feeling knowing that I left my mark on Salisbury like that.”

After watching two of her teammates score 1,000 points in her first two basketball seasons, Bauer hit that target near the end of the winter season.

In helping guide the Lady Falcons to a 12-5 Colonial League regular season record and appearances in both leagues and districts, Bauer erupted for 470 points (19.6 per game) that put her over the 1,000-point plateau. She reached the mark with two free throws in a regular season game against Palisades and finished with 1,091 for her career.

“That was something my entire team got to be a part of,” said Bauer, who finished the season with 83 steals and 92 rebounds. “Everyone was rooting for me the whole season. As a freshman Megan Hrebik scored her 1,000th point and I got to be a part of that. And when I was a junior Meghan Eripret scored her 1,000th point, so I got to be a part of that.”

Bauer, who was named to the Colonial League First Team, also stepped into a new leadership role this past winter season. And she passed the challenge with flying colors, leading a largely inexperienced group to the postseason.

“I was playing with all of those girls since middle school, so I was excited to step into that role after having to follow other people most of the time,” Bauer said. “It was nice to be a leader.”

Basketball hasn’t left Bauer completely. She’ll occasionally shoot with her brother outside, and she recently competed in a summer league a couple of weeks ago with former teammate Kelly Gonoude.

But now the focus of her athletic career is solely on track and field moving forward. She’ll report to Rider University in early September with the next chapter of her life ready to unfold.

“It’s been a fun ride,” Bauer said. “I wouldn’t change anything, even my second place [at states], because I guess everything happens for a reason. Everyone is telling me that bigger and better things are ahead. I think that’s what I need to focus on. That will definitely motivate me in college because I really don’t want to have that first loser type feeling again.”

The sting of that second-place finish has worn off a bit, although it’s still tough for Bauer to think about at times. But that hasn’t deterred her focus for what she hopes to accomplish in the next four years.

“Going into college my mentality isn’t really changing, it’s always been to win,” Bauer said. “That’s going to carry over. I’m excited to see what I can do.”