
Caden Klingelhefer from Mason won the gold medal in the Class 2A 800-meter run at the UIL state track meet, finishing with a time of 1:57.77. His victory was marked by a dramatic photo finish.
AUSTIN â Masonâs Caden Klingelhefer is used to his last name being mispronounced.
The nameâs origin is German and roughly translates to âbell-ringer.â But at the UIL state track and field meet at Mike A. Meyers Stadium on Friday, Klingelhefer stood for state champion.
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Klingelhefer earned gold in the Class 2A 800-meter run with a time of 1 minute and 57.77 seconds in a dramatic photo finish for the junior.
âItâs like a fever dream,â Klingelhefer said. âI didnât think I could do it, but I just wanted it more, so I got it.â
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Masonâs Caden Klingelhefer crosses the finish line first in the 400-meter run during the Class 2A UIL State track and field meet on May 15, 2026, at Mike A. Myers Stadium in Austin, Texas.
Klingelhefer said the group boxed him in during the first lap and he couldnât make his push earlier. As the group cleared down the stretch, coming into the last 200 meters, he made his push and leaned to beat second-place Hamiltonâs Colton DeLaGarza by .13 seconds.
âWe all kind of ran a bad race,â Klingelhefer said. âWe all kind of got boxed in ⊠(the 800) is a weird race, but I came out with gold, so I canât complain.â
Klingelhefer ran his best race at the Region IV track and field meet two weeks ago, setting a personal record 1:57.57 but came out with the silver medal behind Premontâs Haven Peña, who set the regional record with a time of 1:56.91.
Caden Klingelhefer won the state track gold with a time of 1 minute and 57.77 seconds.
Caden Klingelhefer won a gold medal in the Class 2A 800-meter run.
Caden Klingelhefer described his victory as a 'fever dream' and expressed disbelief at his achievement.


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As Klingelhefer made his final push for the gold Friday, Peña was one of the five runners he passed.
âI saw the guys next to me, but I just pushed and finished the race. It was really close. I just wanted it more this week.â
The junior runner joins a long list of state medalists from Mason this spring. The Punchers and Cowgirls brought home four gold medals at the state tennis tournament, and Klingelhefer competed with those teams before shifting his focus to track ahead of the championship season.
âI would go to track at our athletic period, then I would go to track after school and then tennis,â Klingelhefer said. âThe gold medal makes it all worth it.â
Paul Witwer covers high school sports and Angelo State University sports for The San Angelo Standard-Times. Reach him at sports@gosanangelo.com. Follow him on X @Paul_Witwer, Instagram and TikTok at pwitwer_sast.
This article originally appeared on San Angelo Standard-Times: Mason's Caden Klingelhefer wins state track gold