COLUMBUS, Ohio — A throng of local media members waited for Lexington’s Dominique Clairmonte to descend from the top step of the podium early Saturday afternoon, hoping for a comment from the newly-crowned Division II 1,600 meter state champ.
They would have to wait a little longer.
“Can we do this later?” Clairmonte asked earnestly as she rushed by. “I have another race.”
The wait, it turns out, was well worth it.
Less than 90 minutes after capturing 1,600 meter gold, Clairmonte was back atop the podium after winning the 3,200 at Ohio State’s Jesse Owens Memorial Stadium.
The sweep of the mile and two mile capped a remarkable junior season for Clairmonte, the Richland Bank Athlete of the Week. She won the Division II cross country state championship in the fall, becoming the first female athlete to win the 1,600, the 3,200 and the cross country (3.1 miles, or five kilometers) state titles in the same school year since Mantua Crestwood’s Bridget Franek in 2005-06 (Franek would star at Penn State and represent the United States in the 2012 Summer Olympics in London).
Several athletes have won two of the three legs of high school distance running’s triple crown in the same school year, but only a handful have completed the sweep.
“It feels amazing,” Clairmonte said. “I couldn’t be more thankful for everything I’ve been able to do. I just feel so blessed.
“It’s really been an honor to be able to race and be competitive.”
The 1,600 went off under almost ideal conditions — cooler than usual temperatures and broken clouds — at roughly 1:35 Saturday afternoon. Clairmonte led wire-to-wire but had to hold off Kettering Alter’s Abby Nichols down the home stretch to win in a personal best 4:53.08. Nichols finished in 4:53.29.
After collecting her medal and posing for photos with Nichols and the other placers, Clairmonte went right back to work.
“After I got off the podium, I went right over to put my shoes on and I did another warm-up with the boys (Lexington’s Nick Stricklen and Ontario’s Brett Cortelletti) because they were getting ready to do the two mile,” Clairmonte said. “I joined in on their warm-up and did about 10 minutes, then came right back to do (plyometrics) before the race.”
It appeared early as though fatigue might be a factor in the 3,200 as Coldwater’s Sarah Kanney, a two-time state champ in cross country and the 1,600, sped out to a three-second lead after two laps. Clairmonte closed the gap to two seconds on the third lap and overtook Kanney on the fourth lap. She was never threatened again. Her winning time of 10:50.09 was more than 11 seconds faster than runner-up Taylor Vernot of Wauseon (11:01.98).
“My legs were a little tired, but it was my last event of the day,” Clarimonte said. “It was an opportunity and I had to take it.
“When (Kanney) got ahead I was kind of nervous because we were going out faster than I expected. I just took it lap by lap and gained on her as much as I could.”
A junior, Clairmonte raced undefeated through the cross country season. Her only loss in the mile during the track season was at the Lexington Invitational.
“I wasn’t used to losing so that kind of hit me,” Clairmonte said. And I also ran slower there than I did the year before and I was like, ‘What is going on?’
“It made me nervous.”
Clairmonte, who also won a pair of indoor championships, will take a well-deserved rest for a week or two before resuming her training.
So what does she have planned for an encore?
“Now I have to go for time,” she said. “Beat my times and maybe try and get some state records. Now it is all about time and holding my spot.”
Her spot among Ohio’s all-time elite distance runners already is cemented.
