Boys 1600m
The fast section had eyes on the low 4:10s coming into the event and was full the state's top 1600m runners as well as two studs out of Georgia to make up the 12 man section. But the depth of the boys 1600m field was the story with every heat being a battle amongst the whole field start to finish.
The second fastest heat had perfect pacing from Krystopher Durham who took them through 800m in 2:10 on the dot giving the field a shot at the 4:20 barrier. Rocky Hansen (Christ School) was able to kick past Bryce Anderson (Hickory Ridge) and Oussama Ajala (Forestview) with a 1:01.49 final 400m to crack the 4:20 mark for the first time as a sophomore, also setting a Christ School school record.
The fast section had Riley Flemington (Ontario, Canada) who was in town and willing to set the pace for the field and take them through the 1000m in 2:38. The field got in line and were ready to be pulled and let the racing get underway over the final 600m.
Dingman tucked in just behind him and had splits of 1:02 and 1:05 for the opening two laps. Once Flemington stepped off the field started jockeying for position with Dingman out front. Maddon Muhammad (Myers Park) and Miles Phillips (North Lincoln) were just behind as well as Will Soule (Mt. Tabor) and Wesley Larson (Weddington) looking for a final move as they tried to match what Dingman was bringing upfront.
With 300m to go Kenny Eheman (Cary Academy) swung wide from the back of an 8ish man pack up to get up with Dingman and Soule who had also made a move to close the gap upfront. It looked for a minute like Eheman was going to carry his move all the way past Dingman, but Dingman had another gear over the final 200m and was able to hold off Soule and Eheman closing in 4:13.32 off a 1:00.17 final 400m with Soule a 4:14.56 and Eheman 4:15.12. Larson would set a 4 second personal best taking 4th with Bryson Gates (Creekview, GA) crossing in 5th ahead of Phillips, Muhammad, Jacob Laney and Ryan Motondo who all cracked 4:20.
Dingman told us after the event he was in a car accident while he was driving to the meet. He was luckily okay and able to secure the win despite dealing with a little adversity.