By Brian Holtzapple
HERSHEY -- State championships and state medals are won and lost by taking risks.
East Juniata senior Tyler Erhard took a big gamble when he decided to pass four runners on Poop-Out Hill with roughly 250 meters remaining in Saturday's PIAA Class AA cross country championship race.
But by the time Erhard crested the hill and got within 200 meters of the finish, that little risk he took came back and bit him in the end. Two of the competitors that Erhard passed later came back and passed him, as the East Juniata standout had to settle for a 12th-place finish in 17 minutes, 5 seconds in the meet held at the Parkview Course located behind the Giant Center.
"I was really feeling it after the second mile," said Erhard, who finished 16th in 17:07 last year. "I was like, this is my last cross country race ever. If I can't walk tomorrow, what does it matter?'
"I gave it all I had on the last hill. I got around four kids, and I never expected to pass that many people on that hill, but I think I ran it pretty well and I was hoping to get an edge on all four of them," added Erhard. "Two of them came back and passed me at the end. That happens. I took a risk on the hill, but it came back and got me.
"Overall, that was a great race," Erhard said.
Erhard, who had the best finish out of all the area competitors on the day, came into the meet with a goal of finishing in the top 10. He missed that mark by two-hundreths of a second.
Both Erhard and Kutztown's Nate Toll finished in 17:05, though Toll was given 11th. The times for the ninth- and 10th-place finishers were also identical. Carver Engineering & Science's Harold Lamour and Saegertown's Nate Tallada each finished in 17:04. Kutztown's Stephen Welsh won the race in 16:37.
"I wanted top 10, I really did. I set that goal for myself last year and I didn't get it," said Erhard. "I didn't want to leave a goal hanging out there. Getting a top-10 finish was a really big deal. It's what I was shooting for."
And although Erhard didn't accomplish that goal in his last high school cross country meet, it wasn't for a lack of trying. Aided by a favorable starting position, Erhard found himself in the top 20 after the first mile by posting a split time of 4:53. From then on, Erhard just gave everything he had to go the rest of the way and post a strong finish.
"I was definitely in a lot better spot than last year, and at the mile I was where I wanted to be," Erhard said. "I finished a lot stronger than I did last year, that's for sure.
"I wasn't ready for the change of the course last year, and I knew what (Poop-Out Hill) had for me this year, so I had a better feel for what I could do on the hill and it brought out a lot better finish and it gave me a lot of confidence," added Erhard.
Other top finishers in the AA race were Mount Carmel's Chris Monahan (52nd, 17:41) and Mikael Hause (67th, 17:53), Warrior Run's Dan Isenberg (90th, 18:06), and Danville's Tylor Barnhart (92nd, 18:06).
The Ironmen finished 13th in the team standings with 314 points. York Suburban won with 76 points.
In the Class AAA race, Selinsgrove's first appearance in the state meet in 38 years turned out to be a rough one. The Seals' top runner, Vince Fadale, finished 116th in 17:37, and the team took 25th place.
WC Henderson won the Class AAA team title with 119 points, and North Penn's Brad Miles was the individual champ in 15:47.
"I was hoping to beat my time in pre-states (17:03), but that didn't happen," said Fadale. "I went forth from the beginning. I came through the mile around 4:50 and in the top 10, but at least I went for it.
"It's a little disappointing, but I had a good season," Fadale added. "I accomplished all of my goals except for a state medal. I would've liked to have done better, but stuff happens."
n GIRLS
Danville sophomore Alison Billas and Millville senior Katie Sick staged another competitive race against each other in the Class AA meet, and the season-capper turned out to be their best races of the year.
Sick finished third in 19:30, and Billas finished 17th in 20:03.
"It was my best performance ever. It's great to finish third. I'm too speechless," said Sick.
A fast start carried Sick through the first mile. In the second mile she stayed with the lead group and got up to fourth place before pulling away with a mile remaining.
"I got out pretty good, but the hills were getting really tiring at the end," Sick said. "I was like, stay in third, just stay in third.' I didn't want to go backwards."
Billas keyed on Sick's running to help herself place well in both the Heartland Athletic Conference invitational and the District 4 meets, and in the state race the Ironmen sophomore did so again. However, not even Billas expected to come away with a 17th-place finish.
"I'm so excited. I just wanted to medal so bad. It's awesome," she said. "I knew I could medal, but I would have had to have a really good race to do it."
She did.
Despite getting off to a poor start, Billas located Sick almost immediately. In the process Billas started passing people one by one until she was confident that she would medal.
"I was kind of far behind at the start, but I just kept passing people and I kept passing people until I felt pretty safe," Billas said. "By the mile I felt really good. I was around 20th, and I thought if just five people pass me I won't get to medal, so I just kept going.
"I'm just so happy right now. I wanted (to medal) so bad," Billas added.
Danville finished eighth in the team standings with 230 points, while Lewisburg was fourth with 174. Central Cambria won the title with 72 points.
Leading the way for the Green Dragons were Hannah Bowen (46th, 20:53), Marina Ziemian (58th, 21:05), Dana Stockdale (71st, 21:18) and Shannon Wright (74th, 21:20).
Aside from Billas, the Ironmen were led by Rachel Magliane (89th, 21:26) and Kate Bassett (96th, 21:32).
Milton sophomore Mallory Reed also ran well. She was 53rd in 21:01.
In the Class AAA race, Shikellamy's Jayme Daley was 193rd in 21:31.
