Senior Steven Ott ran a thrilling race on Saturday, to become the third Centurion Harrier to win an individual State Title. He added his name beside 1991's Ryan Knight and 2009's Jenna Rogers as State Champions in the CAL uniform. The first two miles Steven battled with the Warren East duo of defending State Champ Jacob England and Colton Bullington (4th last year).
The trio pulled away from the rest of the field. After the 2 mile mark, Ott surged dropping Bullington. With 1 kilometer to go, it looked like a 2 person battle to the finish, until suddenly Lexington Catholic's Adam Walker closed the gap and seized the lead with 800 meters to go. He continued to push the pace, but couldn't drop Ott, who just kept hanging a stride or two behind. As they made the last turn to begin the 300 meter uphill finish, Steven began his fierce kick and managed to put 3 seconds on Walker down the stretch to win in 16:07.03. It was an outstanding time on a slow muddy course. Junior Michael Florestal only began his running career this year, but has quickly shown that this is his sport. He ran a strong race to join Steven on the podium and earn All-State honors, with his 15th place finish. Josh Starmer ran a great race, coming within 15 seconds of his PR on the tough bogged down course. Juniors Barrett Gray and Braden Sarin ran 4th and 5th for the team to complete scoring and bring the team home 20th. Sam Brown and John Patterson ran much of the race together and finished with some of their best times of the season. Zach Siegel, Wyatt Page & Cameron Roberts served as alternates
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