Big Spring's Vinny Todaro captured gold in the 3,200 at Friday's District 3-AAA Track and Field Championships, held at Shippensburg University's Seth Grove Stadium.
Todaro's victory, which came in 9:18, was not a surprise.
But the youngster who challenged Todaro, Carlisle sophomore Zach Brehm, was a surprise contender.
Todaro was making his move on the final lap to pass Lower Dauphin's Jeff Groh when Brehm came charging through.
Going around the final turn, it looked like Brehm was going to overtake Todaro, but the Bulldogs' distance veteran had enough in the tank to outkick Brehm to take victory.
Brehm, who was in dead last four laps into the race, finished in 9:18.45 while Groh took third in 9:23.08.
Todaro, a senior, said he thinks Brehm will beat all of his times and records in the seasons to come.
For now, however, Todaro is able to enjoy his first district track championship.
"I was confident making my move at the end," Todaro said. "But I wasn't expecting Zach to catch me. He ran really well and had a heck of a kick. I wasn't expecting that much.
"If not this year, next year Zach will be up there with all of the top kids."
Todaro will now shift his focus to Saturday's 1,600, which could be quite a race considering the star-studded entries in the event. He said that race will likely represent the final 1,600 race of his career.
"Unless I drop a 4:09 in the mile, I'm more than likely to just going to do the 3,200 at states," Todaro said. "For states, I'd like to win gold in the 3,200, but I'd really like to drop a few seconds to qualify for the 5K nationals.
"I'm shooting for a PR along with a first-place finish."
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