RENO - One down and one big one to go.
Carson High's Richard Shroy defended his state 4A 3,200-meter title in impressive fashion Friday night at Damonte Ranch High School, running a negative split en route to a time of 9:38.23.
Shroy wasn't the only area athlete to have a successful day, as Douglas' Nick Maestretti finished second in the 4A pole vault with a PR of 14-3, South Tahoe's Shelby McIntyre won the 4A 1,600 in 5:18.54 and Dayton's Kathie Arias won the 3A discus with a throw of 124-5.
Shroy will attempt a double today when he runs the 1,600. He set the Damonte Ranch stadium record with a 4:19.92 effort last week during Regional finals.
"I'm happy, I got one of them," Shroy said after the race. "I'm excited. I felt good the whole time. The pace was kind of relaxing."
With Green Valley's Julius Kim setting an early pace, the group covered the first mile in approximately 4:55. McQueen's Geoff Hull and Shroy were neck and neck in the top two spots with three laps to go.
Del Sol's Colin Smith started to make a little move on the seventh lap, and Shroy went with him. Shroy had the top spot at about 200 meters of the seventh lap, and was ahead by 10 meters early on the bell lap.
"There were guys that had run 9:30's," Shroy said. "I knew we would go faster in the back end. If the pace of the first group wasn't going to change, I was going to wait until the bell lap."
Shroy earned kudos from Kim, who he will see again today in the 1,600.
"He knows he's fast," Kim said of Shroy. "He does it (runs away from the field) at the right time every time I race him."
McIntyre had two strategies entering the 1,600-meter finals , and both hinged on what the wind was doing.
"My coach and I talked," she said. "If the wind wasn't blowing, I was going to go (kick) at 700 meters. If it was windy, I was going to wait until 400 meters."
The wind was blowing hard, and it made the race more strategic than was anticipated. It didn't matter. McIntyre was in fifth place after the first lap, and then moved into the lead group during the next two laps.
Seconds into the final lap, McIntyre took the lead and never relinquished it the rest of the way and breezed to the state title with a time of 5:18.54.
"The first lap was pretty fast," said the South Tahoe sophomore. "It slowed down after that. It was definitely slow. I was OK with it (the pace). I didn't want to take the lead then."
McIntyre was ahead by so much that she even had time to look over her shoulder with about 40 meters to go.
"My coach always tells me not to look," McIntyre said, a smile on her face. "I couldn't help it."
Maestretti cleared 12-6, 13-0 and 13-6 without a miss. He missed his first try at 14 feet, hitting the bar on his way down. He cleared 14 feet on his second try.
The Douglas vaulter cleared 14-3 on his first attempt, but missed three times and finished second to Damonte Ranch's Connor Pate, who won with a 14-9 effort.
"It's a new PR," Maestretti. "I'm pretty excited."
Maestretti said he changed his pole at one time because he had dinged it up, and he didn't want to risk further damage. Maestretti said he's going to continue to work this summer, and is shooting for a 14-6 or better.
Maestretti said 14-6 was within reach Friday, especially because of the strong tailwind the vaulters enjoyed.
Dayton's Stefanie Osterberg, hurdler Rosa Ramsey and Erika Garcia all earned medals. Osterberg threw the discus 106-6 for third place, an improvement by more than eight feet from last week. Garcia finished fourth in the 400. Ramsey was fourth in the 100 hurdles at 17.53.
Carson vaulter Cameron Childers cleared 13-6, six inches under his PR of last week. He missed three times at 14 feet and finished fifth.
"He had enough height," said Jim Reid, Carson's vault coach. "It's hard adjusting for the wind when it's like this."
It was not a good day for either Katie McFarren, Luke Carter, the Senators' 1,600-meter relay squad and Douglas discus thrower Brianne Burnside who was eighth at 101-10.
McFarren was a disappointing seventh in 5:44.74. She fell behind early, and never showed that comeback speed that netted her a third-place regional finish.
"I lost my focus today," she said. "I don't know what was up with that. The pace was slow, and I couldn't make it up to the next level."
Carter was disqualified for a trail-leg violation.
The relay group of Taylor Bradshaw, Nick Schlager, Brandon Buonacorsi and David McMasters ran a 3:34 en route to a seventh-place finish.