By John Raffel
It was a championship day for Lansing Catholic’s Keenan Robera in the Division 3 track and field finals on May 30 at Comstock Park.
Robera took home first place in the 1,600-meter run with a time of 4:17.09.
“I’m really happy with how the mile went,” he said. “I thought it was a great way to end my senior season. Unfortunately I wasn’t able to put it together in the 800 and two mile. My back couldn’t take it. It’s been a little weak these past couple of days. I just want to play it out. It’s been a good day.”
It was windy and rainy, but Robera didn’t point to the weather as being a major factor. “We’re all in it, and we’re all racing each other,” he said. “We’re all in the wind and rain, so it doesn’t matter. Actually, I think it’s more fun.”
In last year’s state meet, Robera clocked a 4:17.89 for second place in the 1,600-meter run, narrowly behind Chase Barnett (4:17.71). Robera did with the state title in the 3,200-meter run (9:28.34) last year, to go with the 2013 championship he won in the event (9:32.46).
Lansing Catholic won the state title in 2012 when Robera was a freshman. That year, he was fifth in the 3,200 (9:43.13).
In cross country, Robera led Lansing Catholic to a second-place state finish in 2014, as he won the race in 15:30.2. He also won the race in 2013 (15:31.0), when his team took third.