You had to see it to believe it.
The 3A Girls individual title came down to who could get across the finish line first, just not the way we would usually think of it.
At about 10:17 AM on the morning of October 29, Quinn McConnell rounded the final turn into Norris Penrose Stadium, the 3A Girls title apparently hers.
A couple short seconds later, though, Kayla Young rounded the same turn. Only Young was clearly a bit wobbly on her knees, spent from some 4900 meters of chasing McConnell around the course. Still, the chase was still engaged.
As both moved toward the finish line, suddenly Young went down. Although McConnell did not appear to turn around, or even recognize that her lone remaining pursuer had fallen, her grip on the state title that was mere meters away tightened. Surely, nothing now stood between McConnell and the title.
Then, the unthinkable happened. McConnell went down. Then got back up. Then went down again. Then...
In all McConnell's falling and rising, Young had regained her own feet and sufficient composure to move in determined, though compromised, fashion toward the finish line. She saw McConnell struggling as she went by, but stayed the remaining course and crossed the finish line before her body went limp.
The 3A individual title went to Young, though in the most improbable fashion imaginable.
Meanwhile, things were going from bad to worse for McConnell. Each time McConnell fell, the struggle to regain her feet became more arduous.
Over what was less than a minute, though it seemed an eternity played out in slow motion to those watching, McConnell's teammate Anna Shults entered the stadium.
A hush that had already spread over the crowd grew deeper.
Once again, McConnell rose to her feet. Something inside drove her forward in spite of the rebellion of her legs and clouding of her mind. With one final effort, McConnell crossed the finish line a hair's breadth before her teammate--and collapsed.
It would be a long time coming back to full function for the second-place finisher.