Taking a different approach to his second race at the B.C. High School Track and Field Championships, Nathan Tadesse captured the gold medal in the men’s 3,000m race.
Twenty-four hours earlier, the North Surrey Secondary student felt he put a little too much pressure on himself in the 1,500m race, although he won that race as well, completing a season’s sweep in long distance running.
“I’m really happy, because I won B.C. cross (country) championship last fall,” said Tadesse after winning his second gold medal of the three-day meet, staged at McLeod Park in Langley. “This race (3,000m) was a completely different mind set. I was just focused on running and winning, and that worked out.
“In the 1500m, I forced it, was gunning to get a record.”
Tadesse and Brendan Hoff of Victoria’s Reynolds Secondary battled for gold in the 3,000m race, with the North Surrey runner outrunning his rival over the final 50m for the win, his time of 8:42.87 just a quarter-second quicker.
Tadesse was content to run in the middle of the lead pack for much of the race before moving to the front with a half-lap to go, which was what he had hoped for.
“My plan was, with 400m to go, to get to the front and be in good position,” he said. “Then I just picked up the pace for the last 200m.”
Friday’s 1,500m race featured a little more drama.
The race was a close, three-man battle as Tadesse, Hoff and Reid Muller of Pitt Meadows Secondary entered the final 50m fighting for the lead. Muller bumped Huff as he moved into second place, then sprinted alongside Tadesse at the finish.
Muller was declared the winner by two one-thousandths of a second after officials spent several minutes looking at video. But later in the day, he was disqualified for contact with Huff.
“Crossing the line, I didn’t know who won,” said Tadesse. “Elbows started to clash, we were all so close to each other. But I went home thinking I had lost. Then one of my friends texted me, that’s how I heard about it.”
Tadesse’s winning time was 3:55.15.