Culbreath won her second UIL 5A 1600m state title in as many years
Several Texans travelled to the Boston Boost Games to compete in the Dream Mile. Texas UIL state meet medalist on both the girls and boys side took their talents to the national level meet with hopes of running fast.
The girls saw 5A state champ London Culbreath (McKinney North), 6A state champ Quinn Owen (Marcus), 6A runner-up Brynn Brown (Denton Guyer), and 6A third place finisher Heidi Nielson (Katy Cinco Ranch) would race for the win.
All four girls ran valiantly as the race went out fast at 1:09.86 led by Caitlin Collier (FL). Collier, is fresh off of winning her fourth Florida state titles in both the 800m and 1600m. She also added her second straight 3200m Florida state title.
As Collier led the race, the Texas girls were right behind her not only through the first lap, but also through the second lap (2:22.49). After pacing through the second lap with a 1:12, Collier cranked things up on the third lap as she sped things up and came through with a 1:10 split distancing herself from everyone but Culbreath who was right with her.
Owen, Brown, and Nielson go 1,2,3 at UIL 6A state meet in 1600m
The rest of the Texas girls were a couple of meters and seconds off the lead pace, but they were set up for a big last lap to position themselves for a top finish.
As Collier used her 54.14 400m and 2:02.77 800m speed to push the last lap even faster as she split a crazy 1:05 last lap split to win the race in a U.S #1 4:38.48.
Culbreath PRed for second place with a fast 1:10 final lap split for a 4:43.41 and good enough for a U.S. #2 mark. Crossing the line soon after was Owen who finished in fourth place with a 4:52.56, Nielson fifth in 4:53.64, and Brown in 4:53.97 for sixth place.
Elkin won the UIL 6A 1600m
Round Rock Stony Point senior Dereck Elkins who has two big wins on the seasons at Texas Relays and the UIL 6A state meet was entered in the boys race. Todays race went out slow at a 1:06, but then the guys quickly sped up with a 1:02 and a 1:01 lap.
Elkins was right there in a mix heading into the last lap. Since the first lap was slow, the last lap was destined to be a barn burner.
Eventual winner Michael Phillips finished in 57.13 to close for a 4:08.03 win leading four guys under 4:10. Elkins would run a 1:02 last lap and finish with a 4:14.28 for eighth place.