LAKEWOOD – Each time Matthew Edwards completed a lap, the gap between The Classical Academy senior and second place grew.

By the finale of the 3A 3,200-meter run Thursday, Edwards felt comfortable enough to look over his right shoulder and then shrug as he crossed the finish line.

Edwards earned back-to-back titles in the 2-mile and finished the race in 9 minutes, 28.32 seconds.

“I was elated because the season has been a bit of a bumpy ride,” Edwards said. “But I’ve still managed to have some fast times and I knew I could come out and rip a decent one out here especially with great competition. That propelled me and gave me motivation in the second half of the race.”

Edwards competed in just five races during this track and field season and ran just once in Colorado in the two-mile race.

This season, Edwards’ entered the race seeded second behind Frontier Academy’s Darren Hayden, who had a time of 9:38.1.

Edwards’ best time came April 30 at the Stutler Twilight where he clocked in at 9:43.82.

After the third lap of the race, Edwards illustrate that his seeding time didn’t capture his abilities.

“It was a gradual ramp up to this race,” Edwards said. “I had a big lead, but I didn’t feel safe until that final 200. … I knew some of these guys have a good kick. Mine is good, but I know those guys have a little more in them. I had to ramp it up and that was huge in building separation.”

Edwards has a couple more attempts at state titles and the Titans senior said he recognizes the challenge ahead, but “I’m excited for it.”

“Everyone in (the mile) race is going to be moving,” Edwards said. “Hopefully, I can take down Jackson (Fagerlin), but we’ll see how that plays out. And I’m grateful I don’t have to run the 800 [Friday]. So this will be fun.”

This story has been updated.