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Thomas Worthington (OH) junior Justin Braun came out swinging this weekend.
On the first weekend of indoor track and field action at the VA Beach Club Opener on Friday and Saturday in Virginia Beach, Virginia, the junior participated in three events, raced a total of four races and took home third, second, and first-place finishes.
His big weekend started out on Friday in the 200m. In a loaded field that saw nine guys clock times of sub-22-seconds, Braun was able to put up a 21.56 good for third-place. He finished behind Fairview's (CO) Gavin Schurr and Eleanor Roosevelt's (MD) Laurenz Colbert. The trio ran 21.28, 21.32, and 21.56, respectively.
Braun then started off his day on Saturday at 10:15 a.m. with the 60m dash prelims. The junior clocked a 6.94 for the fifth-fastest prelim time. When he took to the track in the finals at 12:50 p.m., he improved on with a clocking of 6.79.
The 400m dash heats started at 4:00 p.m., and Braun participated in Heat 27, the last of the evening.
He raced L.C. Bird's (VA) Jayson Ward and Freedom Woodbridge's (VA) Jaylen Barringer. All three had run sub-48 in the past.
When the gun went off, all three got out to solid starts, with Ward getting to the break line slightly ahead of the other two.
Along the backstretch of the second lap, Braun started to move to the outside to get around Ward. Around the final curve, Braun was practically in lane two as he swung wide around Ward who was holding his position well.
Down the final straightway, Braun picked up steam on the outside moving up shoulder to shoulder with Ward. Meanwhile, Barringer was sneaking up slightly between the two as it came down to the final few meters.
All three took a big dip at the line, but Braun pulled out the win (47.82) from the outside lane. Ward took home second (47.89) and Barringer after a late surge and diving roll across the line place third (47.99).
The win capped off the impressive weekend from Braun, who opened the season with a US No. 1 time in the 400m a No. 2 time in the 60m (6.79) and the US No. 3 time in the 200m (21.56).