Domenic Hockenbury took it out hard.
The defending state champ from Lake Lehman had two goals headed in the PIAA State Championships: win and break 16. He did both.
"The plan was to go out really hard and get out in front of the pack so there was no trip-ups or anything," Hockenbury said. "I wanted to go through the mile hard. We were trying to aim for 4:40 and we came through the mile in exactly 4:40."
The fast early pace put his competitors in the AA boys race into difficulty early on. Hockenbury soared on. When he crossed the finish line, he accomplished his two goals. His final time was 15:49, a 12 second PR on the Hershey course.
"It was a fast pace right from the start, which made running the course more smoothly to get a better time more difficult," he said. "My main goal was just winning the race and that sealed the deal--to be able to go out there hard and take the legs out of everybody."
The pressure of having to repeat didn't bother Hockenbury much. He tried to view Saturday's race as just any other day. He also made a big decision, which helped him relieve some of the tension, committing to Syracuse next year. With that off his back, he could focus entirely on beating the clock and his fellow runners.
"The big thing for me when I was going through my college process was that I wanted to be done with everything before the state meet that way I can just be focused on my running and my school work," he said. "My future coaches were out there on the course and I already feel like I'm part."
One runner who didn't bite into Hockenbury's tough early pace was Zach Skolnekovich. The junior from Quaker Valley held back a bit in the first mile, before moving up as the race went on, collecting some of the carnage along the way.
"I didn't want to go out too fast because I knew I would kill my legs, so I just kind of hung in around the top ten," Skolnekovich said. "When the lead group started to break away, that's when I knew I had to leave also."
Hockenbury's pace did lead to a faster race overall, though. Hockenbury's time from last year--16:01--would have only been good enough for fourth this year. Skolnekovich was second in 15:54 and North Pocono's Matt Kravitiz took third in 15:57.
Skolnekvich was one of the day's bigger improvements from last year. He was 12th in 2014 and is now AA's top returner heading into 2016.
"I don't know how to describe it yet," he said of placing second. "It's a great honor and next year I'll come back and do my best and keep working."