It’s difficult to believe that the race for the gold medal in the boys’ Class 4A 3,200 and 1,600 meter races could be any closer than at the Region III-4A meet, but Friendswood head track coach Steve Haffelder warns anyone jumping to conclusions.
"Both races are going to be great races," Haffelder said.
"Both races are going to be great races," Haffelder said.
Friendswood’s Ryan Teel defeated Kingwood Park’s Michael Linberg by just hundredths of a second to win both titles at the regional level.
And there’s nothing to persuade Haffelder that the state race will be any different.
“There’s another kid (Brady Turnbull of Frisco Liberty) that was second to Ryan at the state cross country meet, and he’s elevated his performances this spring,” Haffelder said. “He’s the leader, time-wise, in the mile and two-mile.”
In fact, Turnball’s winning time of 9:13.62 in the 3,200 is five seconds faster than Teel and Lindberg. Turnball’s victorious time in the 1,600 at the region meet was 4:17.16 – just one tenth of a second faster than Teel.
However, there’s one huge obstacle facing the runners at the state meet. They’ll be running both events the same day – something that didn’t occur at the regional meet.
“If Ryan ran the mile fresh, I think that would be his best race,” Haffelder said. “But he’s going to double-up as are seven other kids, too.
“You’ll have roughly 12 hours to recover from the 2-mile to run the mile. But 12 hours isn’t that long of a recovery time. But Ryan’s a tough kid and the most competitive kid I’ve ever coached.”
Haffelder expects Teel to bring home medals in both races. He would just like for each of them to be of the gold variety.
“Ryan works hard and goes to bed early,” Haffelder said. “He does everything right. It would be a great double if he could pull it off. He’ll be in the thick of it in both races.
“In the two-mile, we always stress the fifth, sixth and seventh laps to make sure he stays close to pull it off. There’s a lot of mental stuff involved. But Ryan is a race-savvy kid, he adapts well and he’s been in a lot of big races.”
Also seeking a state title will be Friendswood high jumper Shannon Ellis.
Ellis won the girls’ Region III-4A title at 5-6, and she, too, is fully capable of bringing back the gold.
Darby Graff of Hallsville has the best effort (5 feet, 8 inches) of any state qualifier while Kasie Trigg of Carrollton Creekview is second at 5-7.
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