Daniel Mazar is a madman.
On the track at least.
"Yeah, that's a good way to describe him," Summit teammate Curt Wood said with a laugh.
Mazar had an eventful weekend here at the Class 4 state championship track meet at Dwight T. Reed Stadium. His first as a competitor in Missouri. He attended Edwardsville last school year.
On Friday he left a layer of skin on the track after diving across the finish line as he and Holt's Kenny Cushing bumped each other. Cushing stayed on his feet and won the race.
Mazar, 18, hit the deck and came up bleeding with a runner-up finish.
He collected himself and joined the rest of the field at the awards podium to be honored in front of the stadium crowd. Moments after he stepped down he was about to begin his media interviews before excusing himself and vomiting profusely. He went to the medical tent, got hydrated and then returned to finish up his interviews.
"I just have a bad headache," Mazar said as his chin glowed with a raw strawberry.
He then went out and cruised to victory in his 800 preliminary.
A day later, with "FTW" (for the win) carved into the back of his head, Mazar anchored the Summit 3,200 relay. He teamed with Wood, Aaden Aaden and Devonte Harris to crush the field in seven minutes and 51 seconds.
When it came time for his open 800, Mazar once again displayed the skills that landed him a scholarship with Oklahoma.
He rolled to the title in 1:52.26, just shy of his personal record. Wood was third in 1:53.94.
"I'm definitely happy with the win," Mazar said. "I wanted to go a little faster."
While the weather, overcast and kind of drizzly, was no fun for the spectators, Mazar said it was the exact conditions he would have requested.
"It was great," he said. "No sun to drain you."
Behind Mazar's outstanding weekend, Wood taking third and the 3,200 relay's championship the Summit boys tied with Liberty for second place with 34 points.
Hazelwood Central won the title with 41 points.
Everything went Summit's way this weekend. Because the Falcons tied with Liberty for second place the Missouri State High School Activities Association officials flipped a coin to determine which team took home the one and only second place trophy. The loser of the coin flip would receive their trophy in the mail.
As the coin landed the Summit boys let out a cheer as it came up heads.
The trophy would be making the trip to Fenton.
That trophy is a product of the tireless work put in by the Falcons but Mazar and Wood in particular.
The duo spent the past school year pushing one another day in and day out at practice. It's a tried and true way to be elite. You have to have someone nipping at your heels.
"If you want to be the best you have to train with the best," Wood, a SEMO recruit, said. "He doesn't want me to beat him and I don't want him to beat me."
Off the track the duo are fast friends. Wood said that Mazar made him a better runner and he hopes he's helped Mazar too.
"He's made me tougher on the track and I think I've made him tougher off the track," Wood said.
On the track they don't come much tougher than Mazar. Then again, what do you expect from a madman?
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