Sumpter's win also helped the Osborne boys to a second-place finish in the team standings. Osborne finished with 43 points, while Bennington won the team title with 56. Osborne was just one point ahead of third place and two ahead of the fourth-place team.

Had Sumpter finished second, the Bulldogs would have tied dropped into a tie for third.

But Osborne might not have pulled it off without the help of Girard -- who describes the duo as "best friends." After her win, Sumpter sprinted across the infield to congratulate her even though his race was just minutes away from starting.

"I was tired from celebrating her win, at first," Sumpter said. "I think that just pumped me up. She told me, 'Now you've got to hold up your end.' So I had to, or I wouldn't be able to walk back."

Girard won her race with a time of 46.32 seconds; the top three in the event were within .16 of a second of each other. Girard was slightly in second for about the first 200 meters before she took the lead.

It took Sumpter slightly longer to pull ahead. He was barely in second heading into the last hurdle, but the then-leader from Jayhawk Linn hit the last hurdle and could not hold on. Sumpter won in 39.18.

"The backstretch here has always been my strongest one just because I'm in such better shape," Sumpter said. "And that could be why the Jayhawk Linn guy stuttered."

The duo of Sumpter and Girard hugged and took pictures after their wins -- and shortly before Sumpter found out the impact he had on the success of the boys' team, four years after his coach made the prediction he would win.