Photo Credit: Carlos Martinez/MileSplit
Noah Strohman repeated as State champion in the 3200m for Holliday by running a huge negative split in the race. He ran a final 1600m of 4:29 to pull away for the victory.
Hunter Finney of Hughes Springs held the early lead and no one went with him through the first 800m and he led by as much as 40m before the pack pulled in him around the 1100m mark. From there, Strohman led the rest of the way. He went through the first 1600m in 4:53, then clicked off laps at a 4:40 pace before sprinting a 60.67 final lap to finish in 9:22.42.
East Bernard's Christopher Kopecky held close to Strohman for the entire race but was unable to match his closing speed and settled for second place for the second straight year with a time of 9:23.85. Troy's Carlos Jose Cortez made a move into the lead pack on the sixth lap and briefly moved into second place before settling for the bronze medal in 9:29.19.
Strohman will be defending his 1600m State title later in the day.
