Lakewood Ranch boys 3,200-meter relay team wins state crown

Lakewood Ranch’s boys 3,200-meter relay team could already make a case at times as possibly the fastest group of runners in the entire country. After Saturday, the foursome has a gold medal to go along with it.

The Mustangs breezed to a Class 4A championship in the 3,200 relay at IMG Academy Field on the final day of the state championships. Lakewood Ranch posted a time of 7 minutes, 53.45 seconds — not necessarily the group’s best but still nearly 12 seconds faster than Miami Columbus’ second-place time of 8 minutes, 5.52 seconds.

Lakewood Ranch, which briefly held the fastest 3,200 time in the country earlier this season, led almost wire-to-wire with Andrew Dean running out to an early lead, Brice Easton barely slipping into second during the second leg and Jonathan Reid pushing the Mustangs back out front during the third. With the lead entering the final leg, John Rivera was able to blow the race open and win by more than 10 seconds.

The gold medal is Rivera’s second of the weekend. He also won the 800 run Friday at IMG Academy. Reid and Dean also both placed in the 800, finishing seventh and eighth respectively.

The 3,200 win pushes Lakewood Ranch back to the top of the team standings in 4A with 27 points. Fort Lauderdale St. Thomas Aquinas sits in second with 19 points. Columbus, Manatee and Sarasota are tied for third with 16 each.

Rivera and Reid will also have one more chance to medal in Bradenton. Both will run in the 1,600 run later during the day.

This story was originally published May 6, 2017 at 2:20 PM with the headline "Lakewood Ranch boys 3,200-meter relay team wins state crown."