‘I’ve never been in a race that close.’ Megan Cover of Catlin Gabel edges Burns’ Riley Morris in 3A girls 1,500 in one of weekend’s best finishes
By Dan Brood
Wow, that was close.
How close?
Two-hundredths of a second — that close.
That’s all that separated Catlin Gabel senior Megan Cover and Burns senior Riley Morris in the girls 1,500-meter run at the Class 3A track and field championships Friday at Hayward Field in Eugene.
Cover ended up winning the race, and the state championship, in a time of 5 minutes, 0.15 second. Morris finished in second place with a mark of 5:00.17.
“Oh man, I was in a race early on in Oregon City, with a girl who is much, much, much faster than me, and it was close, but not that close,” Cover said after receiving her championship medal. “I’ve never been in a race that close.”
Close, and a battle throughout.
Morris led the pack during the first lap of the race, but Cover took over the lead with about 700 meters left.
“I wasn’t expecting it to turn out the way it did,” Cover said. “I wanted to draft behind her for the first 400, but we went out really fast. And then we dropped back, and that felt better. And so I was like, ‘I think I can pass, and I think I can lead, and maybe I can win by a little bit.’ But then we kept going, and it was just neck-and-neck. It was tight and we were really running.”
Morris regained the lead with about 200 meters remaining. That’s when things really got tense — and exciting.
“I thought it was over, but then I was like, ‘No, it’s not. You’ve got to keep chasing her down,’” Cover said. “I should have not let her take the lead, but at the same time, she was coming right in.”
Cover caught up to Morris, and over the final 100 meters, they were side-by-side, neither competitor conceding a thing.
“I had no thoughts; it was all just drive,” Cover said of the late-race push. “There was nothing going through my head, except, ‘Pass her!’”
They crossed the finish line nearly simultaneously, leading to the question — who won?
The results showed up on the huge scoreboard at Hayward Field — Cover was the state champion, by an oh-so-slim margin.
“I thought I won, but I didn’t know for sure, so I waited,” Cover said. “Then I saw it, and I was excited. ... I was so happy, but I also felt bad because it was Riley, and it was just so back and forth.”
In addition to her victory in the 1,500, Cover triumphed in Thursday’s Class 3A 3,000 in a time of 11:06.52.
“It went really well,” Cover said of the 3,000. “It was nowhere near as exciting as this one. That one, I went in thinking I could win. It was a little bit on the slower side, but I felt really strong yesterday. Minus the hail, it was great.”
Creswell senior Harmony Goodman finished second in the 3,000 with a time of 11:29.17, and Oregon Episcopal School sophomore Morgan Matthews was third at 11:33.72.
For Cover, winning both the 1,500 and 3,000 state titles was a special achievement.
“It was a goal, but I didn’t think I was going to do it,” she said. “It’s a real honor.”
Cover also teamed with junior Karina Gadbaw, sophomore Eva Vu-Stern and sophomore Emily Zhang to finish fifth in the 4x400 relay with a mark of 4:23.66.
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