Grapevine runner wins gold medal in 1600 meter run, crosses finish line with one shoe

Grapevine’s Walker St. John won the UIL Class 5A state title in the 1600 meter run Friday night at Mike A. Myers Stadium, which should be impressive enough.

The junior won his second UIL state title this school year. He won the 5A title in cross country in the fall.

“Coming out here and doing it at my first state track run, it’s a really good sign of what’s to come for senior year,” said St. John, who helped the Mustangs to the UIL cross country team title.

But what made his run more superb was the fact he finished the final lap with just one shoe. St. John’s right shoe popped off before the last lap (400 meters) and the Mustang star pushed through to win the gold by inches.

“I lost my shoe at about 1K,” he said. “The pack started to gain on me with about 200 meters left, but I put on my final burst with 100 left and it was enough.”

St. John ended the race in 4:18.53 and beat out Austin McCallum’s Christopher Riley (4:18.78).

Even with one shoe on, St. John put in a sub-one minute lap, his fastest of the race (59.02).