Wichita ? De Soto senior Casey Johnson tried so hard to win a state title in the 1,600, he nearly couldn’t defend his state crown in his specialty event – the 800 meters.

“I was completely exhausted there at the end,” said Johnson, who held off Jefferson West’s Aric Cherry to win the 800 title in a time of 1:56.65.

“Normally, I don’t try to go out and lead races, but no one was taking charge in the 1,600. And so I led that thing nearly the entire time, and it really wore on me going into the 800,” said Johnson, who also claimed the 1,600 crown in 4:24.07.

Johnson, who came in with the state’s fastest time in the 800, nearly added a third title but settled for second in the 3,200.

“It was a pretty satisfying ending to my prep career,” said Johnson, who will run next year at the Air Force Academy.

A pair of area teams placed fourth: Ottawa in 5A and Baldwin in 4A.

De Soto's Casey Johnson leads the 3,200-meter race en route to a victory. Johnson won the Class 4A state title Saturday in Wichita.

The Cyclones’ 400-meter team of Darious Johnson, Aaron Douglas, Trey Watts and Vashon Perryman won in 43.36. Johnson, Douglas, Perryman and Pierre Johnson nearly won the 1,600 relay but settled for second behind Gardner-Edgerton.

Ottawa’s Jack Sachse also won the 800 meters in 1:56.29.

Baldwin’s 3,200 relay team finished first in 8:01.91, which shattered the school record by almost five feet.

“It was really an outstanding race by all of us,” BHS senior Sam Hinton said of teammates Chris Elniff, Spencer Wilson and Zac Towns.

For the area girls, Eudora freshman Emily Ballock turned her nerves into an advantage.

“Every time I heard someone getting close behind me I just turned it on that much more,” said Ballock, who won the 300 hurdles in 46.30. “I’m really excited to come out of here a winner. I knew I had the fastest time in 4A coming in, but I think everyone thought because I was a freshman they would be able to catch me.”

Baldwin’s Heather Garcia narrowly missed state titles in the 3,200 and 1,600. Garcia was second in the 3,200 in 11:15.53 and ran a second-place time of 5:12.06 in the 1,600, then earned a fifth-place finish in the 800.