WICHITA — It’s obvious who the big winner was for Ellinwood High School.
Junior Pedro Montoya won a pair of Class 2A state titles — the 3,200-meter run and the 4x800 relay — and capped it off with a fourth-place finish in the 1,600 run at the 6-1A state track and field championships on Saturday.
“I feel great,” Montoya said after the 1,600. “I mean, it’s the first time qualifying for state in this event. I felt like there was great competition. I got a PR, and I got to thank God. I’ve come a long ways.”
He finished in the 1,600 with a time of 4:32.72.
He fell behind Grant Garst of Inman and Joshua Mehl of Wichita County early in the race. Garst won the event at 4:25.16.
“I didn’t think they could maintain that pace,” Montoya said. “They did. They did good.”
While he would’ve liked to have a trio of gold medals, Montoya said he was happy with his performances.
“Yeah, I’m fine with the way it went,” Montoya said. “I had all three that were PRs, so you can’t argue with that.”
In the 1,600, he improved on his personal-best time by one second.
He put it all out on the track in the 4x800 relay, knowing fully well that he would have to turn around and run the 1,600 less than two hours later.
Montoya said he didn’t have a decision. He had to support his senior teammates — Derek Ward and Patrick Ringering, along with Kyle Oglesbee. They finished with a time of 8:26.79.
“I was going to give it all,” Montoya said. “We have two seniors. It’s better to get a team medal than an individual medal. We all worked so hard for that. We’re excited.”
He opened the meet on Friday with a school record in the 3,200-meter run.  (9:30.98).