By John RittenhouseHills-Beaver Creek senior Tyler Bush became the school’s fourth individual to win a title at the Minnesota State Class A Track and Field Championships Saturday in Blaine.Competing at the National Sports Center as the lone representative of the H-BC-Ellsworth-Edgerton program, Bush qualified for the finals of the 800-meter run for the fourth consecutive year on Friday before winning the state title on Saturday."It was awesome," said Bush about becoming H-BC’s latest state track champion."I just wanted to place better than I did last year, which was fourth. Going into the meet, I thought I had a chance (to win). When I won, I was really surprised by it."Winning the 800 crown capped a four-year stretch of Bush earning places in the event at the state meet.Bush placed eighth in the 800 as a freshman, fifth as a sophomore and fourth as a junior."Things fell right in place for him," said Patriot coach Tom Goehle, who credited Bush with running a strategically sound race."To win at the state level, things have to place for a runner because every race is different from one year to the next. Tyler wanted to go out and get the lead early, and he was able to hold it most of the way. He did fall behind for a while, but he was able to get it back with a strong finish."Bush qualified for the finals on Friday by running a 1:58.74, which was the fifth-best time recorded in a field of 17 runners.The way things turned out, his time on Friday actually was better than one he registered (1:58.77) during his championship run on Saturday.It was his strategy that led to success in the finals."I wanted to get the lead early, so I was looking at running the first 200 meters in 26 seconds. No one went out hard with me, so I got the lead (in the first 200 meters) and ran a 28 (seconds). Since I didn’t have to go out as hard as I thought, I had more left for the end of the race," Bush said.Bush was able to lead the race until the final 200 meters, when East Central’s Jake Carlson passed the Patriot to take a brief advantage. Bush, however, pulled even with Carlson with 70 meters remaining in the race and passed him with a late surge in the final 50 meters.The H-BC-E-E standout said having a lighter workload in Blaine helped him win his title.During his prior appearances at state, Bush ran with some relay teams along with competing in the 800. Since no H-BC-E-E relays qualified for state this year, he was able to concentrate on one event."I think that was a big factor. I wasn’t a part of a relay, so I only had to run in one race. My legs were fresh. When I’m able to stay off my legs, they are good," he said.Bush will run outdoor track and play basketball at Northwestern College (Orange City, Iowa) next year. He joins past H-BC athletes Chris Reid (a two-event winner in 2003), Brad Haak (2001) and Steve Esselink (1999) as state track individual champions."It’s nice to know you won that last race in a Patriot uniform," he concluded.