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Wasinger, a junior at Cotter High School, won the Class A state championship in the 3,200 meters at Klas Field at Hamline University.
Wasinger broke away from the field the final lap and cruised to an easy victory in 9 minutes, 24.88 seconds. Despite a victory by more than four seconds, Wasinger said nothing about it came easy.
“It was a fast race and really hard,” Wasinger said. “Just being up here (at state), the atmosphere and everything is just bigger.”
Wasinger came in the favorite and lived up to the billing. He ran second or third the first six laps, then took the lead and control the final 800 meters.
In the final 200 meters, Wasinger pulled away from his two nearest competitors and won going away. Perham’s Kevin Lachowitzer was second in 9:29.08 and La Crescent’s Dustin Franta was third in 9:30.41.
“That’s worked all year doing the big kick at the end — the last lap and really pushing it with a good, hard lap and just finishing and seeing what happens,” Wasinger said. “I was pretty happy with the time, but that’s not what it’s about for me. At state, it’s all about the places. I’m happy with the win.”
Wasinger finished second a year ago in the 3,200 and said he felt relieved when he captured the state title. He will go for another today in the 1,600, which he enters with the best time and once again is the favorite.
“This was so hard and I didn’t expect it to be that hard of a race,” Wasinger said. “It’s been pretty relaxed all year, but this was pretty tense.”
Franta, a senior for the Lancers, said he was pleased with his time. He said it’s been tough chasing Wasinger the past few years.
“Every time you run you have to give your best effort when you have someone like Donny running with you,” Franta said. “I did all I could. Donny just kills me on the sprint and I can’t get him on that last lap.”
