Sweet revenge and a little bit of bad luck played a part in the outcomes of the 4th ever Class A state championship race.
After being beaten by Domenic Peretta of Beaver Falls at the District 7 championships last Thursday, Griffin Mackey of Sewickley Academy ran like a man on a mission. Mackey surged to the front early and never put himself in any danger of relinquishing that spot the entire race. His lead grew with each and every major obstacle and Mackey's state title winning performance was the first runaway victory of the day. Mackey's 16:05 was 9 seconds better than surprised runner up Noah Curtin of Mercyhurst Prep. Joe Previdi of Masterman finished 3rd in 16:20, 4th place went to Connor Walsh of Cambridge Springs, and 5th position went to Domenic Peretta of Beaver Falls, who battled the flu and the course to run 16:29.
While Mackey's performance was great for his team, his partner in crime on the course, Ben Clouse, was not so fortunate. Mackey and Clouse finished 1-2 at PIAA Foundation in September, but today did not bring such luck. Coming down the final hill and approaching the sewage plant, Clouse popped his hamstring and struggled to finish the race. Although he did make it to the finish line, Clouse did not factor in the team scoring for Sewickley.
Unfortunately, that incident swung the title race in a totally new direction. After having a 25 point lead at two miles, Camp Hill made up that point difference with two medalists and three top 30 overall finishers to score 113 points and defeated the unlucky Sewickley team by 8 points. Northeast Bradford could not duplicate some of their impressive spread numbers and had to settle for 3rd with 130 points and a 70 second spread. Defending champions Winchester Thurston fell to 4th this season with the same 130 point score. Lastly, 5th place went to Seneca with 170.