PROVO — A year ago, Park City sophomore Ben Saarel went out too quickly, and it cost him a state championship in the 3A boys’ 3200-meter race. After winning the 1600-meter race, Saarel wasn’t ready for the tempo of the 3200 and eventually finished third.

Following last year’s state title meet, Park City High School track & field head coach Jeff Wyant said, “Ben just has to learn how to race.”

On Saturday, at the track & field state championship meet at Brigham Young University, the junior showed the rest of the state just how far he’s come in the span of 12 months. Saarel dominated the distance events of the meet in 3A, winning the 800-, 1600- and 3200-meter races.

In Saturday morning’s 3200-meter race, Saarel hung back in the crowd. For five laps he was either second or third.

Then, halfway through the fifth of eight laps, he made his move.

“I was just remembering that if I did the same thing I did last time, I’m going to be so pissed,” he said. “Thank goodness today I heard my coaches yelling, ‘Don’t go out too far.'”

Saarel’s last three laps were dominant, but Ogden’s Jordon Cross finished a close second and kept up with Park City’s star who extended his lead quite quickly when the final gun sounded the last lap.

“Just said to myself, ‘Pick it up a little bit,'” he said. “I was surprised. I kept looking up to the big screen and I thought, ‘What’s it going to take to get this guy (Cross) to go away’? Finally, I was able to get enough space.

“Today it was just about going out there racing and having a good time. I had to work pretty hard on this race.”

While Saarel was delighted after exorcising last year’s third-place finish, he still had his sights set on the 800-meter run which took place later in the afternoon Saturday. Following his 3200-meter win, he said the 800 would be the most challenging of the three events, in terms of pace and competing against Wasatch speedster Talem Franco.

Turns out he was right.

He set a Park City High School record running the 800-meter in 1:52.3, a second faster than Franco.

Saarel’s performance at BYU wrapped up a junior season that featured four individual state championships dating back to the state cross-country meet in October.

He said he entered the track & field season this spring running the 3200-meter at around 10:10 and the 1600-meter at 4:35. He finished at state with a 9:25.11 in the 3200 and a 4:21.25 in the 1600.

“I want to be working hard, but not straining,” he said. “I stayed relaxed about it.”

While Saarel stole the show on the track, his junior counterpart, Megan Glasmann, wowed the crowd on the state’s biggest stage once again as the dominant thrower won the 3A girls’ javelin and discus state titles, repeating her double from a year ago. Glasmann set a state record in the girls’ javelin with a throw of 149.025, 18 feet ahead of any other female thrower in the state.

The Park City girls finished fifth overall, while the boys finished sixth.

Also scoring for the Miners on the girls’ side were Ali Walker, who finished third in the girls’ 3200-meter race, fourth in the 1600-meter race and sixth in the 800-meter race. Alyssa Snyder finished fourth in the girls’ 3200-meter race and fifth in the 1600-meter race. Keeley Ruttan finished fourth in the girls’ long jump, while freshman Chrissy Glasmann finished fifth in the girls’ javelin. Relay scorers for Park City included Walker, McKenzie Snyder, Maddie Meza, Forster Matherly, Kaila Balch and Ellie Burton.

On the boys’ side, Paul Flake finished sixth in the 300-meter hurdles, while Aaron Green and Colter Merritt finished seventh and eighth respectively in the 3200-meter race. Relay scorers for the boys included Saarel, Jono Schettler, Nick Kreiger and Alex Kessler.

For full results on the meet, go to www.runnercard.com .