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The Blaze
Video...
High
School
Runner quits race to help Collapsed Opponent
by Jonathon
M. Seidl
June 4,
2012
If you ever
thought you couldn’t win by losing, here’s a story for you. Even though
Meghan
Vogel came in last place in the recent Ohio D-III 3,200-meter state
finals, she
came out as the winner.
With just
50 meters left in the race, Vogel — a junior who had earlier won the
1,600-meter race — noticed that one of her opponents, sophomore Arden
McMath,
collapsed in front of her. It was obvious McMath couldn’t finish, so
Vogel did
what the rules say she can’t: she helped McMath to the finish line
despite
facing a disqualification.
And as the
two limped along, the crowd roared. Luckily for the rest of the world,
the act
of sportsmanship was caught on video:
Here’s how
the News-Herald of Ohio describes what happened:
The athlete
on the left is Meghan Vogel of West Liberty Salem, a school located in
west
central Ohio about 50 miles northeast of Dayton. The athlete on the
right is
Arden McMath of Arlington, which is about 15 miles south of Findlay.
With about
50 meters to go, McMath’s legs buckled and it was clear she would be
unable to
finish. Vogel, who had earlier won the D-III 1,600, was running in last
and saw
what was playing out in front of her. She came up right next to McMath
and,
well, you see the rest. The crowd grew louder as they both crossed the
finish
line, with Vogel allowing McMath to finish ahead of her.
The
Springfield News-Sun explains why the girls weren’t disqualified like
they
should have been:
By rule, a
runner in track or cross country is automatically disqualified for
aiding
another runner. In this instance, however, meet management took no
action.
McMath was given 14th place in 12:29.90 and Vogel 15th in 12:30.24.
Vogel made
sure McMath crossed the finish line first because she had been ahead of
her.
The move is
reminiscent of what happened in 2008. Back then, during a a softball
game
between Western Oregon and Central Washington, two central Oregon
players
carried an opponent around the bases after she hit a home run and then
tore her
knee rounding first base. Watch as Mallory Holtman and Liz Wallace
carry Sara
Tucholsky from base to base (Tucholsky’s teammates or coaches could not
or else
she would be ruled out):
“Helping
her across the finish line was a lot more satisfying than winning the
state
championship,” Vogel told the News-Sun.
Not just
for you, Meghan. Not just for you.
Read this
and other articles at The Blaze
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