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AUSTIN -- After three straight years of running the 1,600 meters at the UIL State Meet, Keri Wood added a few more steps to her race.
She climbed the steps beyond the finish line and walked on to the medal stand at Mike A. Myers Stadium.
Wood concluded a stellar career for A&M Consolidated with a bronze-medal finish Saturday. Wood ran 5 minutes, 00.98 seconds to finish third in the Class 5A 1,600 meters.
"I'm not coming back with the medal that I wanted, but it's still a medal and I'm very proud of that," Wood said. "It took a lot of hard work to do that."
The Woodlands' Sarah Andrews, who won the 3,200 early Saturday, came back to post a 4:56.11 to win. Plano sophomore Rachel Johnson was second at 4:57.25.
"I planned on going out fast and knew that people would come out with me," said Wood, who helped push the leaders to a 1:14 opening lap. "I definitely set the pace for a fast time but it took holding on and seeing what I could do at the finish."
Wood took the lead at the gun, but settled into third when Brazoswood's Lauren Smith took the lead and Coppell's Kim Kirby moved into second.
With a lap and a half remaining, it was Wood locked in on Andrews, who had taken the lead.
"I knew that in order to be in a good position by the end, I had to run the third lap hard and I did exactly that," Wood said. "Sarah came out and I followed her and I said, 'You can't let her get away. That girl is going to finish.'"
They held that position until the backstretch of the final lap, when Johnson moved into position and claimed second place with just over 200 meters left. Wood, who was never worse than third, held that spot the rest of the way.
"On the fourth lap, I just struggled to close," Wood said. "It was hot and it's been a long season, but it was still a really good race."
The final showdown in what has been a scintillating 100-meter hurdles competition between 3A's Macy Osburn of Caldwell and Krysten Brooks of Rockdale went to Osburn, who ran 15.03 to place fourth. Brooks was fast at the start and was the first to reach the initial hurdle, but she was caught by a pack of hurdlers, led by Kemp's Sharda Bettis. Bettis, who finished fourth in 2008, won the race in 14.53, closing well to beat Stafford's Jasmine Oyewumi.
Brooks struggled after that first hurdle, and the Tigers' senior finished seventh in 15.36.
Cameron sophomore Brook Brashear was seventh in the 3A girls' 300-meter hurdles, starting slowly but running well late. Brashear ran a time of 46.63, which was her career-best time.
Navasota sophomore Rodney Brown finished sixth in the 3A discus with a best throw of 158 feet, 4 inches. He had three straight throw of over 151-11. The favorite, Hayden Baillio of Whitesboro, won by more than 17 feet with his throw of 186-1.
"It was pretty fun to be going as a sophomore," said Brown, who said he was hardly a favorite to advance from the Region III meet. "They had me at the bottom, but when you pitch them out there, you can do anything. I'll keep working at it and hopefully I will win it next year."
Caldwell's Emily Surovik cleared her first three heights in a pole vault competition that opened at nine feet. She was over at 10-0 but missed on all three attempts at 10-6, which she had cleared at the 3A Region III meet.
Surovik finished seventh. Whitney's Wren Bonner won with a new 3A record vault of 13-0.
