O'Gorman junior Libby Castelli wins 800 meter state title in thrilling finish

Much like the 3200-meter state title race she won earlier in the day, O'Gorman junior Libby Castelli bided her team early in the AA 800-meter state title race, more than happy to let the other runners face the wind head-on.

Brandon Valley’s Addison Scholten led after the first lap, trailed by her Lynx teammates, Mia Wentzy and Sarah VanDeBerg.

Castelli patiently waited for her moment and was ready for it when it came. The O’Gorman junior found her way to the front of the pack, with Wentzy hot on her heels.

More: O’Gorman’s Libby Castelli earns win in 3200 at South Dakota state track and field meet

The same scenario unfolded less than 24 hours before when Castelli and Wentzy anchored their sprint medley teams. In that race, Wentzy turned on the afterburners to narrowly get ahead of Castelli and win the race for Brandon Valley, setting a new meet record.

With Wentzy back on her heels and the wind on their back for the final 100 meters, Castelli knew she had to use it and give it her all.

“She’s a great sprinter,” Castelli said of Wentzy. “She can outkick me most of the time so I was kind of scared.”

But this wasn’t going to be like the sprint medley. When Wentzy turned on the afterburners in the final stretch, Castelli did the same and managed to stave off the University of Arizona commit to claim her first 800 state title. She posted a time of 2:14.62 and Wentzy finished with a time of 2:15.16.

“(I wanted it) really bad,” Castelli said after her win. “I lost to Mia last year. Obviously yesterday, she beat me in the medley, so today was my last 800 against her so I was like, ‘I need to get this win.’”

The medley loss on Thursday gave Castelli all the extra motivation she needed heading into the race. Friday's battle was just the latest installment in a list of great races between the two.

“She’s a great competitor. She pushes me to do better, and I think I push her to be better,” Castelli said. “It's always fun to race against her.”

The 800-meter state title win was Castelli’s second of the day and she still has the 1600 on Saturday.

Jonathan Fernandez covers high school and college sports for the Argus Leader. Contact him at jfernandez1@argusleader.com. Follow him on Twitter at@JFERN31

This article originally appeared on Sioux Falls Argus Leader: O'Gorman's Libby Castelli wins 800 meter South Dakota state title