By the midway mark in Saturday's 3A state championship race, Leon junior and defending state champion Matt Mizereck had to be wondering if his 17th birthday celebration might be upstaged by his sophomore teammate Will Stanford.
Mizereck and Stanford had distanced themselves from the pack as they passed the LER grandstands at the conclusion of the first lap and spent the next 1 ½ miles swapping leads.
"When you're running with your friend, you push each other," said Mizereck. "It's sort of like a friendly battle until it comes to the final sprint, where it determines who's going to be first and who's going to be second. … I think we just help each other get times we want; Will pushed me a lot inside (the middle of the course). I pushed him in the beginning."
The race unfolded a lot like a NASCAR race, with each runner using the draft as they traded positions. But just like NASCAR teammates, all bets are off when the checkered flag flies.
With an uphill closing surge reminiscent of h...
