The junior from West Liberty-Salem High had already won the 1,600-meter title earlier in the day. But in her next race -- the 3,200-meter event -- she put on a display of heroic sportsmanship.
Just 20 meters from the finish line, fellow racer Arden McMath, a sophomore at rival Arlington High, fell to the ground, her legs giving way beneath her.
"I just couldn't believe she'd done that for me. We're all in it together as distance runners. Everyone is trying to do their best. It's a lot harder on your body than a lot of the other races," McMath said.
For her efforts, Vogel finished 15th in the event. But her act of kindness has caught the attention of national media. The embedded video below gained more than 100,000 views one day after being posted.
"If you work to get to the state meet, you deserve to finish no matter who you are. I was going to make that happen for her no matter what," Vogel said.
Vogel's mom, Ann Vogel, is also her daughter's coach.
"It was really emotional and people came up to us in tears moved by what Meghan had done," Ann said.
Since her actions went viral, Meghan admits she's been getting hounded by Twitter messages and Facebook friend requests.
The story is fairly reminiscent of the Central Washington University softball players who carried Western Oregon senior Sara Tucholsky around the bases after Tucholsky hit her first career home run -- and subsequently blew out her knee.
As for Vogel, she's looking forward to things quieting down again.
"It's been nice, but it also will be nice to get back to normal," she said. Check out the inspirational video below.
This young lady is all class and I commend the officials for bending the rules a bit and not disqualifing the runners. We have seen so much stupidity by schools and officials it is refreshing to see a change of heart in them for the kindness this young lady showed
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