The Mid-April weather was perfect for a fast time a year ago. And the race delivered with plenty of speed -- and excitement -- in a great early season duel between a pair of the state's top sprinters at the Pan-Ram Invitational in Harrisburg.
In the boys' 100 meters, Central Dauphin East's Shawn Brown and Harrisburg's Kamere Day battled to the line in a race that proved to be one of the 2019 season's most thrilling races.
Brown got a good jump on the line, but Day, who was really starting to come into his own as a top-notch sprinter wasn't going away easy. Day made up ground on Brown and made it a close dash to the line. Both leaned at the tape with Brown's momentum carrying him into a full front somersault after hie crossed the line.
It truly was too close to call -- at least initially. After some intense moments of waiting, Brown was awarded the victory in 10.54, with Day also being credited with a 10.54. They were two very quick times for just week 4 of the outdoor season.
Event 6 Boys 100 Meter Dash High School
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Records: ! 10.72 4/11/2009 Chris Houston, Bishop McDevitt
Name Year School Finals
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1 Brown, Shawn 11 CD East 10.54! 10.534
2 Day, Kamere 11 Harrisburg 10.54! 10.536
3 Kent, Donte 11 Harrisburg 10.77
4 Bruno, Joseph 11 Mechanicsburg 10.93
5 Koliyah, James 12 Harry S Truman 10.94
6 Baker, Bryce 11 CD East 11.03
7 Wimberly, Teddy 11 Mount St. Joe 11.20
8 Folk, Joe 12 Shikellamy 11.25 Perhaps the best part of it all was that these two were only juniors. This spring was set to be an exciting season between the two Mid-Penn, District 3, and PIAA Class AAA rivals, but the coronavirus means we won't get a chance to see the two seniors race to even faster 100 times.
About an hour after Brown's then-state-leading performance in the 100 meters, he would return to anchor CD East's 4x100, which clocked one of the state's fastest times ever, a 41.17. That same quartet would go on to set the state record at the PIAA District 3 Championships.
Individually, Brown went on to win the Class AAA state title in the 100 meters at the PIAA State Championships at Shippensburg. Most recently, he claimed the 60 meter dash state crown at March 1's PTFCA Indoor State Championship.
Watch today's throwback race above and check out an interview with Brown and the rest of the CD East 4x100 from the 2019 Pan-Ram Invite below: