EPGTF Boys Qualify for State

The boys had their Sectional meet last Friday and they performed admirably.

In the field events, Gabe McKinley was robbed of two great jumps (one of which measured a PR 20'5") by a close foul call by the event judge.  He still placed 5th with a 19'9".  Alan jumped 16'8" for 14th.  Ryan jumped 31'1 in the triple.

 

In the rings, EPG earned its first ticket to state when Nathan Schertz tossed the disc 13'9" to qualify.  Austin Ahnafield had a PR in the discus, 100'11", and Kaston Keith was close to a PR with his 106'5", they placed 19 and 17.  At shot put, Kaston had a huge PR, going 42'1" for 9th (and only one inch from the old EPG record).  Ethan Jenkins also made finals with a huge PR, 44'5", a besting his previous school record put of 43'5".  Thus the meet started with 3 PRs, a new school record, and a state qualifier.  To the track...

 

The meet started with our highest seeded event, the #1 seeded 4x8.  Our seed time of 8:24 was four seconds ahead of Erie, but Bureau Valley and Sterling Newman were right behind.  The race started off with Tyler DeMarb for the Titans running a 3-second PR split of 2:00.3, handing off at the same time as the BV and NCC kids.  Andy was second for EPG, and he ran a 2:05.3 (a three-second PR), but we had slipped into third.  Marc Hartness was third, and he too ran a three-second lifetime PR of 2:05.8, Jacob Ludy was our anchor and he split a PR of 2:02.8, yet the Bureau Valley and Newman teams maintained their lead and we finished third.  Luckily, we destroyed the state cut (8:26) with our EPG record 8:15.07 (two years ago we also set the school record at the Erie Sectional with our 9:01).  We qualified our first relay to state in a looooong time (Coach Haas, help me out here).  Up next was the 4x1.  We had drawn the slow heat, but we destroyed the other two teams in that heat, running a season PR 46.28, and placing 6th. 

 

Next up was the 3200, where Hunter Cobbley was the #4 seed, but confident in his training and race plan to achieve the state cut 10:04.  The race unfolded perfectly as he hung with the lead pack and ran about as near even splits as anyone could, running the first mile in 4:59, as the top four reeled in the early leader from Morrison.  With 800 to go, only the top four remained on pace and they began the long push to the finish.  With 200 to go, Baldonado and Pettis broke the pack and raced ahead for first and second, Schmillen hung on for third, and Hunter brought it home in a 72 for a 10:00.12 and a ticket to Charleston.  He had set a new all-time record and qualified for State.  Ryan Filkins also ran the 3200, and went out in an aggressive 5:25, but lost pace for a couple laps on the back half and ended tying his season PR at 11:20, placing sixth and scoring another point for the Titans.

 

EPG returned someone to the 100 finals, and Gabe McKinley placed third in the event, only 0.3 seconds away from second and a trip to State.  Connor Stoller ran prelims with a broken shoe, and still managed a 12.2.  Nathan Schertz also competed in the 100, rolling a 49 and qualifying for his second event.  In the 110 hurdles, Taylor Shelton ran a 23.79 for 12th.

 

Up next, too soon for those still recovering from the 4x8, was the open 800.  Nathan Schertz was up first, in his first 800 race of the season, but rolled an awesome 6:46.70, with some great stretches of full pushes.  In the fast heat, Tyler DeMarb and Andy Layden went to the well again, but came up a bit short, Tyler running a 2:08 for 6th and Andy 2:09 in 9th.  Perhaps all the barfing after the 4x8 took too great a toll.

 

The 4x2 ran a two-second season PR in 1:38.05, but missed scoring by less than a second, earning 7th.  Ryan Skare almost earned a season PR with his 56.34 open 400, and Shelby Heffron gave 1:00 a run, but ended with a 1:01.7.

 

In the 300H, Luke Barnard almost got the #2 EPG time, but will have to remain at the #3 spot, with a 47.81, Alec Ihlenfeldt almost got under 50, but was a hair short at 50.28.

 

In the 1600, the Ludy brothers jumped in the lead pack from the start and settled in and relaxed.  Halfway through, they were on pace for a 4:42, but looking strong and confident.  Strong and deliberate they moved up one by one until the bell was ringing signaling the last lap of the race and found themselves in first and second with the Erie kid holding on to his early lead as the Ludys tried to erase it.  As they raced down the backstretch the fast early laps got to the Erie kid and the relaxed early laps allowed the Ludys to move into a clear first and second place, separating the field by 5 meters as they hit the final curve.  With 1000 to go, Adam moved to lane two to get around his brother Jacob, but Jacob fought back, and the two pushed the pace down the homestretch unmatched, taking first and second in state qualifying marks of 4:37.19 and 4:38.21, (a six second PR for Adam).

 

In the 4x4, Jon Hasty had everyone thinking about 2015 with his lead leg 52.2, and Marc Hartness and Tyler DeMarb followed with PR splits of 54s, Luke Barnard came back from his 300H to donate a 56 to the cause and the four of them set the EPG record in 3:38.28.

 

EPG gathered 41 points and placed fifth (last time at Erie we scored 7).  More importantly we will be taking a 4x8, a 3200 runner, two 1600 runners, and Nathan in the discus, 100, 200, and 800 to State.  Up from our lone qualifier in 2013.