AUSTIN – Mason’s Caden Klingelhefer is used to his last name being mispronounced.
The name’s origin is German and roughly translates to “bell-ringer.” But at the UIL state track and field meet at Mike A. Meyers Stadium on Friday, Klingelhefer stood for state champion.
Klingelhefer earned gold in the Class 2A 800-meter run with a time of 1 minute and 57.77 seconds in a dramatic photo finish for the junior.
“It’s like a fever dream,” Klingelhefer said. “I didn’t think I could do it, but I just wanted it more, so I got it.”
Klingelhefer said the group boxed him in during the first lap and he couldn’t make his push earlier. As the group cleared down the stretch, coming into the last 200 meters, he made his push and leaned to beat second-place Hamilton’s Colton DeLaGarza by .13 seconds.
“We all kind of ran a bad race,” Klingelhefer said. “We all kind of got boxed in … (the 800) is a weird race, but I came out with gold, so I can’t complain.”
Klingelhefer ran his best race at the Region IV track and field meet two weeks ago, setting a personal record 1:57.57 but came out with the silver medal behind Premont’s Haven Peña, who set the regional record with a time of 1:56.91.
As Klingelhefer made his final push for the gold Friday, Peña was one of the five runners he passed.
“I saw the guys next to me, but I just pushed and finished the race. It was really close. I just wanted it more this week.”
The junior runner joins a long list of state medalists from Mason this spring. The Punchers and Cowgirls brought home four gold medals at the state tennis tournament, and Klingelhefer competed with those teams before shifting his focus to track ahead of the championship season.
“I would go to track at our athletic period, then I would go to track after school and then tennis,” Klingelhefer said. “The gold medal makes it all worth it.”
Paul Witwer covers high school sports and Angelo State University sports for The San Angelo Standard-Times. Reach him at sports@gosanangelo.com. Follow him on X @Paul_Witwer, Instagram and TikTok at pwitwer_sast.
This article originally appeared on San Angelo Standard-Times: Mason’s Caden Klingelhefer wins state track gold, adds to Punchers medal stand
Reporting by Paul Witwer, San Angelo Standard-Times / San Angelo Standard-Times
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
