By Jeremy McDonald
Jeremymcdonald73@gmail.com
SALEM, Ore.– Dylan McGuirk really tore the 1,500 meter race open on the second lap in Saturday’s Titan Track Classic.
The senior was leading the pack, with the competitors on his heels, before McGuirk upped his tempo and started to pull away as they came around at the 800-meter mark of the race. His lead was about 50-meters at this point, and that lead didn’t minimized on the back 800-meters of the race. McGuirk took the race in 4:16.73, a full four seconds ahead of the second-place finisher in Hunter McKenzie of Oregon City.
“I was going to wait for the 400 before I went. We came through the 300 with what I didn’t want to, so I just went for it. i made it hard on myself for sure, but I’m so happy about it,” starts McGuirk on his strategy. “Today was just building a little bit. The thing I really want to work on is my aerobic capacity, just staying together better on longer distances. I’m pretty good at the 15, not as great at the 3(,000), but that’s my goal.”
McGuirk finished second in the 3,000 meter race with a PR time of 9:22.50.
In the girls 1,500-meter race prior to McGuirk’s dominant race, Mia Rasca was hanging around the front of the pack. She sat in second place during the first two laps of the race before drifting to about fourth entering the final lap.
But that was when she kicked it into high gear and worked her way back to second, trailing only Mountain View’s Olivia Beaudin midway through the fourth lap. Beaudin led the whole race up to this point, and with Rasca nipping on her heels, found one last kick to hold off Rasca in the distance race.
“It was quite the push, I got pushed back…but my competitor, she out kicked me the last bit. It’s all about the push until the end,” said Rasca. “Just working on finishing through the line and imagining that it’s farther and that someone’s always coming up behind me.”
Madelyn Olson won the 3,000-meter race, Lily Griffin won the High Jump. Avery Meier finished second in the 400-meter race. The West Salem 4×400 meter relay team finished second. All contributed to the Titans finishing second as a team.
Cory Dillon finished second in the High Jump as the West Salem boys team finished fifth as a team at the event.
Photos By Jeremy McDonald
