10 unique stories from the 5A/6A state championships.
6. Anatomy of a State Relay Champion -- Patriot Girls Pull Shocker in 6A Girls 3200-Meter Relay
In the girls' final event on Friday, the stage was set for an exciting showdown in the 3200-meter relay. In Lane 1 was Western Branch, the top seed. Next to them was Lake Braddock, the second seed, but potential favorite, with Kate Murphy running the third leg. West Springfield, with Reagan Bustamante on the anchor, also looked to be in the mix for a top-three finish.
Western Branch got off to a fast start, with Adriana Shockley opening up a five-meter lead in the first 300 meters. However, Lake Braddock and West Springfield kept on their pace. The Spartans took the lead just before the second leg and opened up a three-meter lead as a pack of four teams settled in right behind the leader. Before the second exchange, Western Branch made a move for the front, and South Lakes held with them through the second exchange.
The third leg saw Murphy make up a 50-meter deficit to take the lead on the back turn of her third lap and open up a four, then six, and then eight-meter lead. Western Branch struggled to keep pace as the third, and final, exchange came at the 7:01 mark.
However, Western Branch started to make up ground on the last leg. Ces' shay Joyner closed to within a meter of the front with two laps to go. The crowd watched as both Bruins teams battled over the final two laps. Lake Braddock's Madeline McAvoy got three meters ahead, but Joyner pulled back up to her shoulder on the final lap.
As the expectation of the crowd turned vocal, the pair of runners rounded the curve. Who would win? Lake Braddock, Western Branch...Lake Braddock, Western Branch.
Nobody expected what was about to happen.
Seemingly out of nowhere, and running as if she was propelled by a sling shot out of the final turn, Patriot's Rachel McArthur sprinted down the outer edge of Lane 2, and past the pair on the homestretch to win in perhaps the most shocking finish of the meet. McArthur led a comeback from fifth place to the victory stand with a 2:10 split, and final lap of 30 seconds.
How did this happen? Pioneers coach Adam Daniels aimed to provide some insight as to how he formed this state winning quartet.
Opening Leg -- Lindsay Yentz: "In my mind, Lindsay is consistently a good racer. She's a sophomore, but we let her lead off because she's young at it. And if things didn't go well, we'd still be okay with three legs to go. But Lindsay stayed in her comfort zone, and her last 200 (meters) worked out well." Split -- app. 2:26
2nd Leg -- Sierra Biber: "Sierra is our second best 800 runner. Since we didn't know how Lindsay would do, we wanted Sierra there to make up ground, if needed. Also, she runs a 58 in the 400 outdoors, and we needed her leg speed there." Split -- app. 2:22
3rd Leg -- Abigail Wied: "Abby knows what she is capable of. They made the switch with Kate (Lake Braddock moving Murphy to third leg), but Abby had no delusions that she would be keeping up. I hoped she could stay within 75 meters." Split -- app. 2:24
Anchor Leg -- Rachel McArthur: "I thought that Rachel could catch her. As she got closer to the front, I could see that Rachel's eyes got bigger." Split -- app. 2:10
In conclusion, speaking of his team's winning effort (9:23), Daniels noted, "It was a great race. Of course, I was glad to be on the winning side."