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Distance runners Lauren Peterson, Alex Miley win prep state titles with contrasting plans

By David La Vaque, Star Tribune, 06/09/17, 12:30PM CDT

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Peterson, of Farmington, won the Class 2A girls' 019; 3,200-meter race by less than a half second. Miley, of Maple Grove, blew away the 2A boys' 2019; field, finishing more than 11 seconds ahead of his closest competitor.


Emily Covert of Minneapolis Washburn smiled after hearing a fan cheer for her in her battle with eventual winner Lauren Peterson of Farmington in the Class 2A 3,200-meter race. Photo: Shari L. Gross • sgross@startribune.com


Alex Miley of Maple Grove easily won the 2A boys' 3,200-meter race. Photo: Shari L. Gross • sgross@startribune.com

Whether competing against an envisioned ghost or two evenly matched competitors, distance runners Alex Miley and Lauren Peterson found success in their different motivational methods.

Their victories in the 3,200-meter races kicked off Friday’s Class 2A state meet at Hamline University.

Miley, a senior at Maple Grove, said he studied last year’s race and modeled his aggressive approach after Wayzata’s victorious Jaret Carpenter. On laps three and four, Miley increased his pace, hoping to rattle his opponents.

It worked. He ran unchallenged from there and won by almost 11 seconds in a time of 9 minutes, 10.82 seconds.

“I did that in conference and section races, too, and it worked out,” said Miley, who will run at Duke next season. “I just had to do it to a higher degree at the state race.”

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