Hunt takes top honors in 3,200

OMAHA – Mitch Hunt calmed his nerves and stifled the competition during the Class A 3,200 meters Friday at Omaha Burke stadium.

Hunt, a Fremont High School junior, won the race in 9:25.30 to also claim the all-class gold medal. Teammate Jon Ronhovde was second in Class A and overall with a 9:36.23.

Hunt entered the race with the top time in the event this season (9:21.18). Ronhovde had the third-best at 9:36.73.

"They handled the pressure of being the top guys magnificently," Fremont distance coach Sean McMahon said. "The talk all the time was about who was going to push the pace if those guys were one and two. The question was if anyone else in the pack was going to do that. Mitch just decided he was going to shoulder the load and go. He set it at a pace no else wanted.

"I’m not saying that Jon couldn’t have run that pace. He just ran a cautious and intelligent race to get second and move on to tomorrow. They both looked awfully good."

Hunt said the huge crowds at Omaha Burke may have adversely affected his running in the past, but that wasn’t the case Friday.

"It definitely used to be a negative, but over the past couple of seasons I’ve been trying to work to calm my nerves in these big situations," he said. "I finally learned that you can’t control where you run, you just have to run your best. The good thing about Class A is that you’ve seen just about everybody before. That helps the confidence."

Hunt relished the role of being the pre-race favorite.

"There’s pressure in everything you do," he said. "It is your choice to accept the pressure or not. You can take it in a positive way or a negative way. I just look at it that you work as hard as you can and whatever comes out, comes out."

Hunt and Ronhovde also played key roles in the Tigers adding eight points in the 3,200-meter relay. They joined junior Jose Nuno and senior Drew Partridge in running an 8:00.97 for second place. Millard West won the race in 8:00.46.

"I think we all competed really hard," Nuno said. "We came here with one of our guys hurt (Jake Smrcina with a hip injury), but we have a backup guy like Drew who we knew had the heart to compete hard and take his spot."

For Partridge, the silver medal was a great way to cap his career. He will be attending the University of Nebraska in the fall, but doesn’t plan on competing in track.

"It is a nice way to go out," he said. "This was my first time running at state (track). It’s overwhelming, but I tried to keep myself calm and just run like I had all season. Our goal was to run a little faster, but we’re still happy with it."

The Tigers were in fifth place when Ronhovde received the baton for the anchor leg. The University of Nebraska recruit nearly caught Millard West at the tape.

"Jon said that when he went by the northeast corner of the stands (where a contingent of FHS were located) that is was deafening," McMahon said. "He said he had never heard anything like that before and it got him going. I think that really pushed him the last 200 meters and he showed what kind of competitor he is. If you put him down 50 meters, he’s going to everything he can to make that up."

Fremont’s 3,200-meter relay performance was the third-best of the day. Plattsmouth won the all-class gold in 7:58.42.

"I think things have gone very well today and we’re in good shape," Fremont coach Dave Sellon said. "We’ve got some key events tomorrow like the discus, 800 and 1,600. We should be ready to go."