Published: May 10, 2008 09:59 pm            

Cats’ Grass finishes third in final race

Dalton High’s Daniel Grass, the Region 7-4A 800-meter champion, broke the school record Saturday at the state track and field meet in Jefferson and finished third in his final race for the Catamounts.

The senior posted a record time of 1:57.41, bettering his previous best of 1:58.5 set in Friday’s qualifying heat, the best of the day among Class 4A runners.

Grass went into Saturday’s finals as the No. 1-seeded runner, but finished behind Chapel Hill’s Blair O’Bryant (1:56.66) and McIntosh’s Vince Brown (1:56.67).

“By the 200-meter mark I was in the top three, and that’s pretty much where I wanted to be,” said Grass, who finished fifth in the 800 and third in the 1,600 meters at the 2007 meet. “I figured I could outsprint people toward the end.”

Grass said he was in the lead briefly around the 500-meter mark, but O’Bryant and Brown went ahead shortly afterward and outsprinted Grass over the final 200 meters.

“It was difficult trying to catch up to them,” he said. “I felt pretty confident I could do OK (Saturday) because I went in seeded first.”

Grass said he realized about the midway point that he was running in his final race for the Cats.

“I couldn’t ask for much more in my career,” he said. “I set out in my freshman year to break the school record, and I did that today. That was my main goal. I’m definitely satisfied.”

Grass will attend Kennesaw State University, but isn’t sure he’ll compete at the college level.

His teammate, Cameron Hud-son, ran a 14.7-second 110 hurdles, a second faster than his qualifying time, and finished seventh.

“I wish they both could have finished higher,” Dalton coach Scott Thompson said. “But that’s the best they could do and I’m happy for both of those guys.”

With O’Bryant leading the way, Chapel Hill captured the Class 4A team championship with 34 points. Tucker was second with 33.

        

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