FOLSOM, Calif. - Wade Meddles experienced frustration at the end of his cross country season back in December when he missed qualifying for the Foot Locker national championships in heart breaking fashion.
You can chalk that up as a lesson learned now because Meddles turned that frustration into celebration on Saturday night when he climbed up on the medal podium after his third-place performance in the boys 3,200 meters at the 50th annual Golden West Invitational track and field meet.
Meddles, a senior-to-be at Sierra Lutheran High School, ran a personal record time of 9 minutes, 10.68 seconds in the 3,200 during a postseason meet that showcased prep athletes from around the nation at Folsom High School.
Meanwhile, Douglas High graduate Jessica Waggoner returned home with two medals in the throws as she placed second in the girls shot put and third in the discus. Waggoner logged a throw of 37 feet, 8-1/2 inches in the shot put and 145-3 in the discus. The marks fell short of her personal bests, but that didn't matter.
"There was no pressure, there were no certain marks I had to hit. I just threw for fun," said Waggoner, who is entered in the discus at the junior nationals in Eugene, Ore., later this month. "It was kind of fun to throw the shot again. This was the first time in 4-1/2 weeks (in a meet since the Northern 4A Regionals).
"This meet was just a fun experience overall," she added after leaving the medal presentation and running back to the discus area to watch national record holder Mason Finley from Colorado, who won the boys event with a throw of 201-feet.
Sierra Lutheran's Nathanael Williams also competed at the Golden West meet and finished 15th in the freshman boys mile with a personal record time of 4:56.17.
For Meddles, this was a much happier finish than the Foot Locker western regional cross country meet in Fresno when he was outkicked on the homestretch of the 5,000-meter race to miss qualifying for nationals by one spot.
"We both said that wasn't going to happen again," Meddles said, referring to coach Dave Marson. "I've been working on my kick and hitting the weights to get stronger, and it seems to making a difference."
One week before, his strength at the end was rewarded with a victory in the 3,200 at the Great Southwest Classic in Albuquerque, N.M. On Saturday, he ran 4:38 for the first 1,600 and 4:32 for the last. Meddles was still in seventh with 800 meters to go, but then closed with a 63-second last lap to take control of third-place.
"The first mile was a pretty good pace. I wanted to stay close (to the leaders) and I wanted to save some for the end," Meddles said.
His time also ranks among the best ever run by any Nevada prep. The fastest 3,200 at a Nevada state meet is 9:13.1 in 1982 by Eldorado's Andre Woods, who also ran 9:07.74 at the Arcadia Invitational that same season.
"I'm pretty excited about that," said Meddles, whose previous best time for the eight-lap distance was 9:16.07 at the Sacramento Meet of Champions in April.
His 9:10 also qualifies for consideration at the Nike Junior Nationals coming up in North Carolina, but Meddles indicated he plans to call it a season.
"I'm going to take a break now before I start getting ready for cross country," Meddles said. "I had a fun year and this was a good way to end it."
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