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Greensboro – Andrews freshman O’Malley Salinas just wanted to break 10 minutes and get on the podium in the boys 3,200-meter run at the N.C. High School Athletic Association 1A Outdoor Track & Field State Championships on Friday.
With Christ the King’s Blake Nicholson and South Stanly’s Joshawa Huneycutt setting the pace early, Salinas was in third by a good margin the rest of the way. However, that didn’t keep him from looking back in the final laps to see if he was clear of the competition.
As he crossed the finish line in third, he turned back to look at the clock to his left. When he saw the time read 9 minutes 58.89 seconds, he pumped his left fist. Both goals had been met.
“It feels really good,” Salinas said. “I’m really happy to know to where my fitness is at, and it’s what I’ve been striving to.”
The run ended an excellent but up-and-down freshman year for Salinas. After winning the 1A cross-country state championship in the fall, Salinas ran just one indoor track meet in the winter due to overtraining.
During outdoor season, he wasn’t having as much success as he liked in the 800-meter and 1,600-meter runs, so he started to focus on the 3,200-meter run. The longer the distance for Salinas is generally the better, and he likes where he is heading as he prepares to defend his cross-country state title.
“There was a lot of setbacks and everything but it’s been great,” he said. “I’m really happy with it.”
Salinas’ run was one of two Andrews school records set at the meet, with fellow freshman Logan Shuler breaking his own mark in the boys high jump with a jump of 6 feet, 2 inches. He had been stuck at 6’1 for most of the season, but cleared 6’2 in his third and final attempt at the height.
Shuler finished fifth in the event, with sophomore Kylie Donaldson adding another top-eight finish for the Wildcats by finishing seventh in the girls long jump (14’11).
Other Andrews athletes who competed at the meet were senior Isaac Weaver in the boys shot put (10th, 42’2), sophomore Kegan Ellis in the boys long jump (11th, 18’10.25) and junior Samuel Preston in the boys triple jump (15th, 37’1.75).
Hiwassee Dam sophomore Ethan Russell made the most of his five minutes of competition at the state meet, setting a new school record in the boys 1,600-meter run with a time of 4:39.89. Russell finished seventh in the event, battling a light but steady rain throughout the race. The day started overcast and with drizzles before a consistent rain started with the previous slate of events, the 4x200-meter relays.
The run was the feather in the cap of a breakout year for Russell, who qualified for the 1A cross-country state championships in the fall and had not broken five minutes in the 1,600-meter race before this outdoor track season.
“I always ran, but I’ve never really excelled in it,” Russell said. “This year just kind of opened my eyes that I am able to maybe to get scholarships or push to run at another level after high school.”
Tri-County Early College freshman Fern Crayton competed at the meet as well, taking fifth place in the 3,200-meter run in a new school record of 11:56.49. It was a personal-best time by 25 seconds. In the past three meets, Crayton has dropped 37 seconds in that race.
Outside of state champion Jordan Oliver, Murphy had Aiden Smith finish sixth in the girls discus (96’6), and the team of Trenton Russell, Brady Grant, Ryan Payne and Cameron Grooms finished 13th in the boys 4x200-meter relay (1:37.16).
Grant, Payne and Grooms teamed up with Hunter Stalcup to compete in the boys 4x100-meter relay, but didn’t finish due to a handoff issue between Payne and Stalcup.