State track: North Hagerstown's Lauren Stine adds to her title collection
LANDOVER, Md. -- With a blazing final lap, North Hagerstown junior Lauren Stine won the Class 3A title in the girls 3,200-meter run at the Maryland State Outdoor Track & Field Championships on Tuesday at the Prince George's Sports & Learning Complex.
Stine blew past Edgewood's Brielle Whitworth with 150 meters left to take the lead for good, winning the race in 10:47.08. Whitworth finished second in 10:53.58.
It was Stine's second straight state title in the 3,200 outdoors and her third straight in the event overall. She was the indoor state champ in the 3,200 earlier this year.
"Hopefully, I can keep that streak alive," she said.
Stine set the Washington County record in the girls 3,200 at 10:36.92 last month with her victory at the Gator Invitational at Reservoir High School. That time made her the clear favorite entering Tuesday's race as no one else in the 3A field had come within 10 seconds of it this spring.
Stine ran in the lead pack for most of the first mile before making her move into first place at the end of the fourth lap. And three other girls went with her, including Whitworth.
"That was my plan," Stine said of her move. "And honestly, if it worked perfectly, I would have pulled away."
Two laps later, with two laps remaining, Whitworth took the lead from Stine and opened a small gap.
"That was not what I was expecting, but it definitely pushed me a lot harder," Stine said. "It caught me off guard, but I'm very grateful she did that because I was definitely falling apart, and having her pass me was a lot of motivation to finish the race strong."
Going into the final lap, Whitworth had a two-second lead, and 400 meters later, Stine had a six-second victory.
Region track & field: Washington County roundup
On Thursday, Stine will try to win her first state title in the 1,600.
"I just went sub-5:00 so I'm definitely excited to see if I can get that even lower," said Stine, who won the 1,600 in a personal-best 4:59.54 at last week's 3A West region meet. "It's a super, super talented field this year in 3A for the 1,600, so I definitely think there will be a lot of competition to push all of us to fast times."
South's Troxell soars to bronze
South Hagerstown senior Riley Troxell earned a bronze medal in the 3A girls pole vault to conclude her high school career -- in track and field.
She'll compete in the state tennis tournament later this week with doubles partner Lindsay Rasco. The two are undefeated this spring with a 20-0 record.
"With dual-sporting, I haven't had a lot of time for track, so it was nice to end on a high note," Troxell said.
She cleared 10 feet for the first time this season to place third.
"That was my goal for the meet," said Troxell, who achieved her personal-best mark of 10-6 last year. "I just wanted to get back up to 10 again to end my season and end my career."
This article originally appeared on The Herald-Mail: North Hagerstown's Lauren Stine wins title at Maryland state track meet
