Tucson's Mesta loses 1,600 by one-tenth of a second

On Thursday's opening night of the Class 5A-I state championship meet, Mesta ran one of his fastest times ever in the 1,600 meters, but illness was replaced by irritation after he missed out on a state title by one-tenth of a second.

"Losing by one-tenth is annoying," said Mesta, whose time of 4 minutes 19.27 seconds was a fraction slower than Mesa Mountain View's D.J. Johnson.

"I thought I had him beat, but they said he won. I'm more just mad at myself."

The Badgers' senior won a gold medal in the mile at last year's state meet, coming from behind to win in 4:20.47.

This time, he had a 30-meter lead on Johnson heading into the final turn when he felt his body weaken.

The two leaned at the finish line, and officials ruled that Johnson crossed first.

"It shocked everybody," Tucson coach John Warren said. "I thought he had it, but he came up just short. It was a great race."

Mesta said: "I knew it was going to be harder to win it this year. People knew who I was this time around, and they were out to get me."

Also Thursday, Tucson sophomore Christine Clark placed fifth in the girls 5A-I high jump with a leap of 5 feet 2 inches in her first year on the track team.

The winning jump was 5-4.

Other 5A-I results were not available at press time Thursday.

In Wednesday's Class 4A-I preliminary round, Sabino's Alex Evans won a gold medal in the boys 800 meters with an unofficial time of 1:57.

Evans, who helped Sabino win the cross country state title in November, used a strong kick to overtake the field, after being near the middle of the pack after the first lap.

He passed the leader early in the final lap and cruised from there.

"I didn't think for sure I would win, but I didn't count myself out, either," Evans said. "Afterward, I was mainly tired, but it was exciting."

His win helped put Sabino in second place entering Saturday's final round. The Sabercats are 1 1/2 points behind Scottsdale Saguaro.