Chanhassen senior Emily Castanias and Stillwater sophomore Eli Krahn won their respective 3,200-meter races on Friday morning at the Class 2A state track and field meet at Hamline University.
Castanias trailed Alexandria twins Bethany and Megan Hasz, the top two finishers in the state cross-country meet last fall, until two laps remained. Castanias, who received a partial scholarship from the Gophers, won the race in a personal best time of 10 minutes, 28.58 seconds.
Krahn sprinted away from a strong field with a little more than one lap remaining. Before gaining separation, Krahn ran among a talented pack including defending two-mile champion Obsa Ali of Richfield, Hamline Elite Meet champion Joey Duerr of Chaska, Joe Klecker of Hopkins, who held the top seed coming into Friday and eventual runner-up Zack Benning of Hastings. Krahn won in a time of 9:00.08.
Krahn will try to defend his 1,600 title on Saturday.
A state meet record was set on Friday as Blaine junior Alexandria Williams won the 100 hurdle preliminaries in a time of 14.22 seconds. She shaved a tenth of a second off the previous record, held by Richfield's Jessica January since 2010. The finals take place Saturday.
Williams came into the state meet with the Minnesota all-time record mark of 14.21 seconds.
Check back later today for more on the meet, which continues Saturday in Class 2A and Class 1A.
