It
was a crisp April morning in Philadelphia. The troves of Jamaican spectators
had yet to make their way into Franklin Field. However, a group of 68 runners
remained huddled in the paddock, waiting for their opportunity to try to
qualify for the prestigious Championship of America. The gun sounded and the
race was off. In the middle of the pack, a battle was brewing between a pair of
Pennsylvania teams. The Little Lions had managed to hand off ahead of the Rams
at the first exchange, but both teams were separated by just three tenths of a
second. The next two runners continued the fight for the next two laps as the
Rams controlled the lead at the second pass of the baton by a half section
margin. Now both teams were beginning to move into qualifying position, chasing
a spot in Saturday’s legendary final. The team in Maroon surged back ahead,
handing off to their anchor with nearly a second lead.
These
two were clearly a pair of top tier athletes and rivals. Together the Ram and
the Lion pursued their prey, rolling around the track as they had done at Penn
State’s Kevin Dare Invitational roughly two months earlier. As they came to the
line, it was a photo finish, nearly identical times posted by both foursomes.
The nod was given to Pennridge, who ran a 7:50.43 to State College’s 7:50.44.
But it mattered little who had won, both teams had achieved their goal. They
were the only two Pennsylvania teams to advance to the 2014 Penn Relays
Championship of America final.
A
year later, State College and Pennridge were back on that same track with the
same goal. But in cold and windy conditions, both teams struggled to make any
sort of dent in the pack and slowly each team faded from contention and
relevance. State College had lost all four members of the team that had qualified
for the COA the previous year, while Pennridge had graduated Joey Logue and
Matt Shulberger, two of the teams fastest and most experienced legs. Although
both squad medaled during the indoor season, it appeared that neither would be
among the super powers that emerged during the outdoor season. It would be just
too hard to reload.
***
Special
teams and special runners can come along once in a lifetime. In 2014 State
College won both the indoor and outdoor state championships in the 4x800m. They
set a school record both indoors and outdoors, the latter of which was a very
long standing record. The Little Lions also grabbed All American honors indoors
and had individual medalist Will Cather grab a pair of necklaces in the 800.
The 2014 season was a culmination of years of hard work and determination for
the four seniors, including a pair of 7th place finishes in the
state championships. It had been a dream year and one that few could expect to
be duplicated any time soon.
The
Pennridge Rams won the District One Title in the 4x800m in 2014, an achievement
they had not been able to accomplish during even their 2012 state championship
season indoors. The team had an incredible run in the 4x4 in 2014 as well and
with Joey Logue (1:51/47 type runner) graduating as one of the most successful
middle distance relay runners in state history, the team looked destine for a
down year. In fact, the team’s coach was seriously worried about what his team
would look like the next year after losing so many key pieces from both relays
over the past three years.
But
the 2015 teams never cared about history. They were out to achieve something
for themselves. At the District One Championships, Pennridge was not able to
defend their title, but they did crack the coveted top 8 with relative ease and
qualify for states. In most people’s eyes they were still well behind
Pennsbury, CB West and Abington who ran sub 7:50 already and many predictors
were even taking indoor runner-ups Penncrest to turn the tables on them at
states.
Meanwhile,
at the District 6 Championships, State College was in a tight team battle with
rivals Altoona. In a calculated risk, the team ran the 4x800m without anchor
leg Alex Milligan and had to settle for the silver in the event they had won a
year before. As a result, the defending state champions were something of an
afterthought in a field dominated by top flight District One teams and a slew
of district champion squads on the rise. Most writers left them outside the top
12, let alone the top 5.
However,
neither team was remotely fazed. In the big moments, the true champions emerge.
And both of these teams were true champions.
After
smooth runs in the preliminaries, both State College and Pennridge were set to make
some noise in the final. For SC, the line up would be Eric Heatwole, Nick
Feffer, Anthony Degleris and Alex Milligan. For Pennridge, Austin Howell, Dan
Williams, Jeff Espinal and Tucker Desko would be manning the baton.
After
what likely had felt like a life time of waiting, the gun had sounded and the
race for a state championship had begun. Howell got out hard for Pennridge to
start things off as the race went out incredibly quickly for the opening 400m.
For Austin, the 800m in general was a new experience and the sophomore who
formerly specialized in the 400m had barely run the event prior to the state
meet. However, his speed and aggressive mentality served him well as he charged
out among the leaders. Conversely, Heatwole was towards the back of the field,
despite the fact that he was rolling through the opening lap in just south of
56 seconds. For most runners, this would be a confidence shaking opener, by
Eric, the lone senior on the State College relay, kept a cool head.
“As I
was approaching the home stretch, I was like ‘Wow, I’m really far back’, but
when I crossed in 55 in 11th place, I thought the pace was going to
drop.”
On
the second lap, both Pennridge and State College stayed tight among a crowded
pack of runners, chasing the leader out front from Penn Wood. After the
blistering start, it became a battle of who could hold on the best as forms
started to break down and legs began to tighten. As the teams made the final
turn onto the home straightaway, Heatwole made a huge move on the outside. The
entire complexion of the race changed for State College as he kicked home to
hand off towards the front of the field, right in contention with the leaders.
His final split was clocked at 1:55.9, a PR of nearly 3 full seconds from his
district time.
“(With)
200 to go, I was still far back and from there I honestly couldn’t tell you
what happened. Something told me to go and I left it all on the track … The
finishing kick is pretty new for me, but I like it.”
Just
behind Heatwole was Howell, running what some have reported as a 1:55 opening
split of his own. He, too, gave Pennridge excellent starting position in the
race and both teams were now set up well to compete as they were giving off to
one of the best runners on their respective teams. For Pennridge, it was Dan
Williams, an individual state qualifier at 800m who had proven himself the
previous day by qualifying for the 800 final. For State College it was Nick
Feffer, just a sophomore, who had run 1:58 and 4:25 on the year. Both men set
right to work on attacking the race and trying to keep pace with another fast
start by Penn Wood and Pennsbury’s strong #2 Sam Webb.
Feffer,
the youngest member of the squad, settled into third and focused on the man he
was battling next to in orange.
“I’ll
admit I was nervous, but I felt good going into the race. We ran well in the
prelims and it didn’t feel too hard … I was confident we could do well. When it
comes to preparing for races, my mental is horrid. For big races, I always
stress out and (my brother) Joey usually tries to calm me down more than once.
But as soon as the gun went off, my nerves went away.”
Although
he was nervous, Feffer had performed well under the bright lights before. He
ran an impressive 1:56 split at indoor states and was hoping to duplicate that
kind of performance at Shippensburg. He was primed for another breakthrough.
As
Penn Wood continued to push the pace, the race began to string out. The group
was out hard again, Feffer coming through in around 55 seconds. On the second
lap, Webb began to make his move. As he opened up a bit on the field, State
College, Pennridge and Penn Wood emerged as the only ones strong enough to keep
the pace. Dan Williams, the only member of the Rams to have competed in this event
the previous spring, did not want to suffer the disappointment the team had
experienced a year earlier when they were out of contention most of the race.
Together, sprinting down the home stretch, Feffer unleashed a strong kick while
Williams fought to stay even.
At
the exchange, both men had clocked impressive splits in their efforts to keep
pace with Webb. Williams clocked a 1:53.7 (by our watches) and Feffer a 1:54.7,
a mark nearly four seconds better than his open PR of 1:58. Williams, the lone
senior for the Rams, had been able to make up crucial ground and keep Pennridge
at the front.
Both
teams were on pace for a time in the 7:40 range at halfway, incredibly fast
times for a high school 4x800m. But they still had some work to do as Pennsbury
was holding onto their lead. Jeff Espinal and Anthony Degleris dug in and began
the grind to try and catch Pennsbury’s Matt Mulvaney.
“Nick
put me in a great spot and I received the baton in third behind Pennsbury and
Pennridge. I knew the best thing I could do was stick with the leaders at
hopefully a fast enough pace to open up ground on the runners behind me and
possibly move into second or first.”
Degleris
went out hard for the first 400m, just as his teammates had before him, but
despite his opening quarter Abington’s 3rd leg at sprinted his way
back among the leaders. The lead group had began to bunch a bit more as Espinal
and Degleris held their ground alongside Mulvaney. On the second lap, things
began to return to the way they had looked one leg previously as those who had
went out over their heads slipped back and Pennsbury, State College and
Pennridge opened back up a gap on the rest of the field. With 200m to go and
junk in everyone’s legs all three teams battled hard for the finish. Degleris
and Espinal had the best kicks as they began to sprint into the homestretch,
jockeying for the lead.
For
the third straight leg, the boys from State College put on a fantastic kick
despite a grueling opening 400m, something Degleris says their training had
prepared them to do.
“During
the season, we had surprisingly few races that went out fast. However, our
coach is a big believer in going out hard, and we had a couple workouts during
the weeks leading up to states (that prepared us).”
Degleris
sprinted impressively for home, but Espinal was right there with him, producing
his own impressive kick. We clocked both men at 1:56.9 and the anchors for each
squad would have the baton with a share of the lead and a chance for state
gold.
Receiving
the baton were Tucker Desko and Alex Milligan and both men charged out, knowing
that Pennsbury’s star anchor, Alek Sauer was lurking behind them. Tucker Desko
was a new addition to the 4x8 since Penn Relays and had been coming on very
strong in recent weeks, therefore earning the anchor spot for the relay.
Although he was fairly new to the state championship scene and had essentially
no open 800m runs in major invitationals, Desko ran with confidence in his
ability and his training.
Milligan,
who runs a strong, even race often times, hung right with the leaders, even as
Sauer began to speed up and into the lead. Alex had run the trials for State
College in 2014 and had a little extra experience in a state championship
atmosphere. Plus, Milligan was having a phenomenal junior year including an
individual medal at XC states and a strong anchor leg on the team’s indoor
states 4x8. Not to mention a slew of District 6 gold medals. However, all that
being said, Milligan had an open best of just 1:57 and he had run a pair of PRs
the previous day in the trials of the 4x8 and 1600, meaning he would be
operating with tired legs. Could he run the kind of split it would take to
compete with a 1:51 runner like Sauer?
As
the race pressed on, Sauer seemed to have a hold on the lead, but it was never
safe as Desko and Milligan battled each other all the way around the track,
pushing themselves to try and chase down the leader in Orange. As they came to
the finish line the crowd cheered with delight as all of the runners sprinted
as hard as they could for the line. Sauer stopped the clock first and the crowd
was amazed by the time: 7:38.42. Behind him, the record setting runs continued
as Pennridge hit the line in 7:40.56 and State College ran 7:41.50: both times
were school records and faster than each team had run the previous year when
they were district and state champions.
Nick
Feffer described it, “My favorite moment was definitely when I saw Alex fall
down on the track after realizing we broke our school record.”
Milligan
and Desko both split about 1:53 to close things out, excellent times lost in
the shuffle from Sauer’s 1:49 jaw dropper. For State College, each of their
runners had cut at least two seconds from their best splits and a total of
roughly fifteen seconds from their best open performances of the spring. All in
just one race.
Milligan
said, “Well, I think our whole team knew the type of anchor that Pennsbury has
in Alek Sauer, and we had mentioned Desko when previewing the race as well, but
I had no idea that were going to go that fast.”
Both
teams also cut ten or more seconds from their previous season best relays, a
dramatic margin. It was a testament to the teams’ hard work and competitive
racing.
Degleris
remarked, “I was quite familiar with the names and times of some of the
athletes on the other top teams based on results from earlier this season. I
was honestly not too surprised by our position in the race, as I knew we could
fight for a top five spot … (Once) I saw Eric split a 1:55 at the end of the
first leg … I realized we were due for a good race. Despite that, I had no idea
that the time was going to be so fast. I think we expected to compete like we
did, we just had no idea we’d run so fast while doing it.”
This
might sum it up best:
“7:41
was way beyond what anyone expected.”
And
the story is not done. Although Heatwole and Williams provided two incredibly
crucial legs at states, they will graduate and leave the other three members of
their relay to compete for the title next year. It is setting up to be an
exciting year.
“The
time itself will motivate me for next year,” says Feffer, “It looks like SC vs.
Pennridge next year for gold, and I know to run a race even better than that,
I’ll have to work even harder. Shout out to Jeffery and SpeedWing for the best
alternates award.”
Describing
the team’s thinking, Degleris explained “As a team, we compared ourselves to
last year’s gold medal squad the year before they won stats. They were in a
similar position, one senior and three returning runners, so if we ran times
similar to them we’d be in a great spot our senior year and could even break
their record.”
It
looks like the State College boys are ahead of schedule.
Overall,
it was a fantastic race and a pair of excellent programs and runners proved
just how a strong a winning culture can be in the sport of track and field. But
they also taught us you can never count anyone out, regardless of who they lose
or what the numbers say “on paper”.
So
next year we might be in for a few more surprises. Get your popcorn ready.
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