Bragg won the Division III 3,200-meter run in a time of 9 minutes, 22.13 seconds at the OHSAA state track and field championships on Saturday, June 5, at Ohio State University’s Jesse Owens Stadium.
“It feels pretty good knowing I’ve worked all through high school and junior high and elementary for this (state title) and I accomplished it,” Bragg said. “That’s what I really wanted to do.
“It feels good to win,” Bragg said.
The victory is the second career state championship for Bragg. He also won the Division III state cross country crown in 2008 as a junior at Cincinnati Christian.
Bragg was a two-time state qualifier, advancing in both the 1,600 and the 3,200 meters. But he decided to concentrate on the 3,200 and scratched the mile — a move that paid off in the end.
“I was planning to just put everything into the two-mile,” Bragg said. “It was a good race, great weather for it.”
Bragg stayed back in the pack for most of the first four laps.
“I knew someone would take the lead for me the first mile,” Bragg said.
That someone was Gilmour Academy’s Bart Merkel, who eventually finished fifth. Bragg kept it close, and knew he would try to break away down the stretch.
“In the fifth lap, I knew I was going to go and I just went after it,” Bragg said.
From that point forward, Bragg, the D-III runner-up last year in the 3,200, took the lead and never looked back. He beat defending state champ Nick Gliha of Garfield Heights Trinity by more than nine seconds.
“I was definitely not happy last year and I wanted to come back and get the win this year,” Bragg said.
Throughout the race, he could hear his father, Dan Bragg, yelling at him. He does it every lap of every race. He watched from the finish line as Bragg crossed it as a champion.
“That’s pretty much his job,” Bragg said. “My job is to run and his job is to tell me what I need to run and yell at me. I’ve got a lot of support.”
Bragg also finished second at the D-III cross country meet last fall. He’ll run at the Air Force Academy next season, and leaves on June 24.
He’s happy he could leave his mark on Emmanuel.
“I just hope the winning tradition can start there and that other guys can step it up and do what I’ve done,” Bragg said.
Contact this reporter at (937) 328-0364 or krowe@coxohio.com.
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