Baylor’s Simon Holden, left, and McCallie’s Ramsay Ritchie compete in the 1600 meter event during Spring Fling Friday in Murfreesboro. Holden finished first and Ritchie was second.MURFREESBORO, Tenn. – Not even the late-evening long shadows of his competitors could catch Simon Holden.
For the second straight year the Baylor senior was dominant in sweeping all three distance events in Division II. He won the 3200-meter run in the morning, then used the shadows cast onto the infield by the setting sun to judge how close the competition was as he raced for the finish line in the evening session’s 1600 and 800.
“The easiest way to see how close someone is to you is to just peek over your left shoulder and see if you see their shadow near yours,” Holden said. “On the final lap of those last races, that’s how I knew whether I could conserve energy or if I needed to push myself.
“It was a tough day, but a great feeling to win all three again. I’m really, really tired right now.”
Holden became the first athlete in Baylor’s distinguished running history to win the 1600 three years in a row, and the Wake Forest signee finished his prep career with eight individual titles including last fall’s cross country championship. He joins former Red Raiders runner Bill Matthews as the only competitors to sweep all three distance events in consecutive years.