It’s not very often that the 3200-meter run comes down to a close race between a pair of middle schoolers. It’s even more rare that those runners are teammates and good friends.

That was the case at the Packer Invite at Larry Gilbertson track and field Saturday and Austin’s Paiton Schwab and Abby Lewis wouldn’t have had it any other way.

Schwab and Lewis ran next to each other for the entire 3200 meters before Schwab sprinted out Lewis down the stretch to win the race with season’s best time of 11:57.93. Schwab also won the 1600-meter run with a season’s best time of 5:24.64.

“It’s really fun to go against each other. We push each other, we help share the wind and we help each other out,” Schwab, who is an eighth grader, said. “I’m really starting to get into my groove and we’re getting were we need to be.”

Lewis, who is a seventh grader, finished with a season’s best time of 11:58.30 and she’s been learning a lot about distance running ever since she started running cross country in the fall.

“I was just trying to stay with [Schwab] the whole time,” Lewis said. “I’ve gotten a lot better at running and I’m still learning and improving.”

The Packers finished fifth out of seven teams with a team score of 84.2. Rochester Century won the meet with a 129.2

Austin’s Carolyn Hackel won the long jump.

AUSTIN RESULTS

100-meter hurdles: Rachel Quandt (second, 17.51); Kendall Hackensmith (fourth, 17.78); 100-meter dash: Carolyn Hackel (third, 13.63); 1600-meter run: Paiton Schwab (first, 5:24.64); 400-meter dash: Alex Hansen (sixth, 1:05.78); 300-meter hurdles: Kendall Hackensmith (second, 48.14); 800-meter run: Madison Overby (sixth, 2:34.73); 3200-meter run: Paiton Schwab (first, 11:57.93); Abby Lewis (second, 11:58.30); long jump: Carolyn Hackel (first, 16-7.50); pole vault: Sydney Marsh (fifth, 8-0); shot put: Amber Hansen (fifth, 32-1); discus: Amber Hansen (seventh, 87-9)