Eli Carling 1A State Track Monticello Sophomore Runnerup 3200 Meter Run

Head Coach Jeff Hunt: “Eli sets his mind to something and does it. Distance running can be fickle as often there becomes a hierarchy in the rankings and it’s sometimes easy to predict.
“Eli turned the 3200 meter on its head this year as he took the races to other athletes and dared them to beat him. In the end Eli did something he doesn’t do very often – he won a sprint to the finish.
“All year when Eli and I would discuss race strategy, we would talk about building a lead so it didn’t come down to a sprint at the end. Well, he had run almost a perfect race in the 3200 but he decided he was going to prove me wrong (again).
“Eli was able to win the sprint and finish second by just .003 seconds. He went on to make the podium two more times and both came down to a sprint at the end.”