The roars echoed throughout the Multi-Sport Facility with two laps to go in the top section of the boys' mile at Sunday's PTFCA Indoor State Championships, as CJ Singleton moved to the outside to pass Gary Martin.
The pair were well under state record pace. At that point, it was simply a matter of which one would take the record, and more importantly, the state title.
A lap later Martin answered back and re-took the lead from Singleton on the homestretch. Martin, the Archbishop Wood senior who broke the all-time Pennsylvania state record in the mile earlier this season with a 4:05.47 at the Millrose Games, then opened up his lead.
He kicked it home to win in 4:04.59 to break his own state record and capture his first indoor state championship. Singleton, for his efforts, moved all the way up to No. 2 on the all-time PA indoor mile list with a 4:06.60 to take second place.
Watch Above: Martin and Singleton battle it out in the mile
Singleton's move to the lead with two laps left was the Butler senior's one last gasp to make a run at the upset victory.
"With 400 to go, I knew I didn't have it in me, but I was just hoping he didn't either," Singleton said.
Unfortunately for Singleton, Martin did have a little extra left in the tank. But Singleton's presence on his shoulder through the first six laps did catch him off guard.
"My gut instinct was that I was a little surprised he was with me because I was hoping to put a little bit of a gap on him in the first 800 to 1200," Martin said. "But when he was with me and he made his move, I could tell I had something left and I knew I was going to be able to make the move."
Ultimately, Martin fed off Singleton's aggressiveness in closing laps of Sunday's race, as it forced him to dig deep and pull out something special. At Millrose, against a field of professionals, Martin faded a bit in the closing laps. He didn't want a repeat of that.
"The expectation coming in was to just run a tough race and work on staying mentally tough and being able to find another gear in the last 400," Martin said. "When you look at Millrose, I think that's something I lacked. I was there at 1200. I came through at 3:01-3:02 and then I just couldn't find the gear to close it and stay with those guys."
Martin closed his last 400 meters in 1:03.13 at Millrose. On Sunday at Penn State, Martin went 1:00.62 for his final 400 to take the win and shave nearly a second off his record.
"Coming into this race, I just wanted to be able to stay competitive mentally and if anyone made a move like CJ did, be able to respond and that's what I did, so I was very happy," Martin said.
It was the fastest mile race ever run in PA high school history, and surely among the most exciting. It all came together perfectly as the two stars entered the race fresh, and ready to chase history.
Martin and Singleton did just that.
Boys 1 Mile Run
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Meet Record: ! 4:09.56 3/1/2015 Sam Ritz, Germantown Acad
Name Year School Finals H# Points
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1 Martin, Gary 12 Arch Wood 4:04.59! 2 10
2 Singleton, CJ 12 Butler 4:06.60! 2 8
3 Woolery, Michael 10 Episcopal Acad 4:14.74 2 6
4 Worrell, Quinn 12 St Joseph Prep 4:15.40 2 5
5 Borgesi, Jake 11 South Fayette 4:17.59 2 4 The race was in many ways reminiscent of the girls' 1,600 meters at the PIAA State Championships as two all-time greats, Taryn Parks and Marlee Starliper duked it out for four laps with Parks ultimately winning it all in the end.
Martin and Singleton are the next two in the line of great Pennsylvania high school milers. The seniors and future ACC foes still have one season left to chase some more fast times.
"I feel like I'm in a good position for outdoors, and once I get another build for training, I think I'll be in really good shape and ready to roll," Martin said.
"We're starting to knock on the door of sub-4," Singleton added. "So hopefully Gary and I can throw something down at the outdoor state championship."