Controversy in the day's first event nearly swayed the end result for Episcopal Academy. Still, nevertheless, the EA Boys' held on and scored the 2023 PTFCA State Championship Title with a total of 34 points. Abington finished second with 32 points, while Central Bucks West finished third with 28.
Chambersburg and Danville rounded out the Top-5.
The Rundown:
A yellow flag popped up in the last 100 meters of the Boy's 4x800m. As Penncrests' anchor leg came up on Dakin Ebmeyer's shoulder, he understood the importance of beating his foe to the cornered bank.
The Penncrest runner squeezed Ebmeyer into the corner and snagged the preferred lane. Ebmeyer's stride was cut a tad short, and elbows raised a smidge.
As they came around the corner, they were again side-by-side, and the crowd roared to the rhythm of the two boys lunging toward the line. To the astonishment of onlookers, their times were the same. Both teams crossed the finish line at 7:52.39. The official finish would go to the thousandth of a second, and the result would eventually sway in Episcopal's favor.
Watch the Boys 4x800m Race Above
Or so we thought. Despite the scoreboard initially signaling an EA victory, an initial disqualification was called due to the incidental contact in the last lap's earlier corner. The calling was Interference. Naturally, Episcopal immediately protested the ruling.
For the Penncrest and Episcopal Academy boys, minutes must have felt like hours as the officiating crew discussed the ruling. About fifteen minutes after the event, an official decision on the protest was made. The EA squad would be reinstated, a correct change by the officiating crew.
We caught up with Episcopal after they were declared the winners.
Of course, the Episcopal Academy coaching staff was elated about the reversal. Not because they just won the event but because their championship hopes weren't dashed in the day's first event.
A disqualification of EA in the first event of the day would've taken 10 points off their board. Assuming the rest of the day remained unchanged - they would have finished in fifth, eight points behind Abington, who would retrieve the state championship.
However, the 4x800m was one of many factors in the team's success.
Michael Woolery came through in a big way for the Episcopal contingent. He soared to a US Top 10 1:52.83 800m to win the event and secure an additional ten points for his team.
Watch Woolery win the 800m Dash Above
Despite a hard-charging Timothy Roden, Woolery maintained his stead and cruised to victory in the second section. He moved the team's total to 20.
The other individual entrants for Episcopal were unable to come up with points throughout the day, so once again, they would have to rely on the relays to secure their victory. They did just that, finishing third in the 4x400m with a 3:21.8 and second in the Distance Medley Relay with a 10:23.53. The additional points would push them out of reach, despite an Abington 4x400m win in the day's final event.
The tandem of Tyler Abraham and Luke Coleman was crucial for Abington in their team race. The duo finished first and fifth in the 400m with times of 48.41 and 48.94 as both runners managed personal best efforts.
They then helped score in the 4x200m and won the 4x400m relay to push the squad over 30 points.
Watch McFadden run the US No. 5 time above.
Central Bucks West received points from Conor McFadden's lights-out victory in the 200. He ran a blazing 21.19, which ranks as a current US No. 5. He too returned in the 4x200m to lead his team into the victory with a 1:29.03 from the second fastest heat.
They then finished second in the 4x400m with a 3:21.59.