COLUMBUS — Winning a state title by one hundredths of a second (that also happens to be your personal best) under the lights after two rain delays is one hell of a way to close out your high school running career.
For Buckeye Valley senior Austin Browning, that’s exactly what happened as he cleared the final hurdle in the Division III boys 110m hurdles final event on Saturday night at Ohio State’s Jesse Owens Memorial Stadium.
Browning’s 13-minute, 98-second burst narrowly scooted past Field junior Logan Border’s 13.99 time.
Browning had the fourth fastest time coming out of the prelims, with Border, Hartley senior Granderson Pointdexter and Ursuline senior Xavier Starghill all ahead of him.
Clearly, the Fighting Baron wanted to keep his streak alive, even if it meant topping the podium by a shoelace.
Out of 13 110m hurdles races this season from April until now, Browning placed first 10 times and second three times.
Aside from Browning’s nail-biter victory, he also competed in the 4x200m relay final, taking ninth with his teammates.
Yet nothing can compare to Browning’s truly jaw-dropping win, especially considering all of Mother Nature’s unforeseen, uncontrollable raging winds and thunderstorms.
