Holliday's Strohman brothers roll again at UIL state championships in the 3,200

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The excitement bled over to his twin.

"It's great, getting second behind my brother, I can't ask for much more," said Ryder, an Oklahoma State signee. "I started off the day strong, I'm ready for the rest of the day."

When asked what was more exciting, his upset of his brother at regionals or silver on the bigger stage, Ryder didn't hesitate.

"Getting second at state," he said. "That means everything. These other meets mean a lot, but state is the main goal. You have to compete well at state."

And how many state golds would he have without his brother, the greatest 3A distance runner in Texas history?

"A lot, but I wouldn't be this good without my brother," Ryder Strohman said. "He pushes me beyond my limits. I couldn't have run the times I did without him."

The Strohmans were together through five laps when Noah began to put the hammer down. He opened up 0.3 seconds on lap 6 then more than 3 seconds on laps seven and eight.

"It felt so smooth," Noah said. "I wasn't super nervous going in like my freshman year. I was ready to go out and execute my plan. I took the lead immediately and it was smooth from there.

"They were all there, two, three and four (on the fifth lap). I was falling a little off the pace, so I hit it a little harder, cut it down more. That's when I made a move."

After that, all there was to do was conserve some energy he'll need later in a busy day and plan the celebration, which was an understate flashing of four fingers for his fourth 3,200 title.

"I wanted to do a little celebration but not too crazy," Noah said.

He may have more celebrations to do as the meet unfolds.

Bret Bloomquist can be reached, bbloomquist@elpasotimes.com; @Bretbloomquist on X.

This article originally appeared on El Paso Times: Noah and Ryder Strohman dominate again in 3A UIL state 3,200 meters