RAPID CITY -- In the final event as a high-school track athlete, Bridgewater-Emery's Coleman Haiar capped off a solid career with a win in the 300-meter hurdles at the Class B state track meet Saturday in Rapid City.
"It was my last race and I went all out," Haiar said.
Haiar has competed at the state meet multiple times in his career, but this was the first season in which he competed in the 300-meter hurdles. Haiar won the event with a time of 41.42 seconds.
"I'm sad that track's over," Haiar added. "It's been a lot of fun."
He said he kind of wished he had run the 300 hurdles in previous years but thought he would not have fared as well earlier in his career.
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Haiar said he was disappointed in his first race of the day -- the 110 hurdles -- where he finished second.
Colome's Chris Hofeldt edged Haiar in the 110 hurdles with a time of 15.59 seconds.
Hofeldt is also a senior who capped off his final state track meet with a title.
"It feels good to win," Hofeldt said. "It's been my goal since my freshman year to win a state championship."
Haiar finished just behind Hofeldt in the 110 hurdles with a time of 15.94 seconds and said he used the dis-appointment from his second-place finish to propel him to the title in the 300 hurdles.
"I wanted to get two firsts but it just didn't happen," Haiar said.
Last year, Haiar finished in third in the 110 hurdles with a time of 15.96 and Hofeldt's 16.65 was good for eighth-place.
Both competitors said they were pleased with their time improvements in this year's meet.
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Hofeldt took seventh in the 300 hurdles Saturday with a time of 42.82.
Bridgewater-Emery's boys' team took 13th place in the team standings with 21 points with the help of Haiar's performances while Hofeldt helped Colome finish 19th in the boys' standing as the team finished with 15 points.
