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The Cotter High School junior cruised to the title in the 1,600 meters Saturday at the Class A state track and field championships at Hamline University.
Wasinger finished in 4 minutes, 22.86 seconds to win by nearly three seconds, pulling away from the competition in the final 400 meters. In similar fashion, he won the 3,200 meters Friday by more than four seconds.
The pair of state titles was the first for Wasinger, who had the best qualifying times in both fields.
“It was a goal and that’s been the focus, so it was good to get it,” Wasinger said. “The race is unpredictable up here because you never know who’s going to have a good day and who’s going to have a bad day. My goal was to get out there and get it done. I did everything I could to get two wins.”
Marcus Piepho of Mankato Loyola was second in 4:25.13 and Dustin Franta of
La Crescent was third in 4:26.57. Franta also finished third Friday in the 3,200.
Wasinger was able to pull away from his two nearest competitors on the final lap. He did the same in the 3,200. He said it’s been his game plan all year.
“I always want a big push right after I hear the bell (signifying the final lap),” Wasinger said. “I just go and put down a really hard last lap. It’s worked.”
Wasinger talked Friday about how hard the 3,200 was to get through and how much it took out of him. That wasn’t the case after the 1,600. He acted like he could have gone another mile with little trouble.
Wasinger said he only ran the 3,200 four or five times this season — including his state-title performance.
“I’ve been running this one all year,” he said. “I’ve run it over and over and over again. There’s more comfort with this race.”
While there was pressure on Wasinger to win this season, the pressure will increase next year to repeat. He knows the target he will carry from start to finish next year.
“You never know what everyone is going to do,” he said. “Kids can come out of nowhere and start running really good races. It’s really anybody’s game for next year.”
The Ramblers also had their girls 3,200 relay team competing Saturday. The team of Stephanie Smith, Chelsi Larson, Anna Ferris and Sarah Wasinger placed 10th.
