Greg Branch, Shawn Young, Ethan Long, and Austin Kline are also making the most of their senior year. The foursome shattered the previous school record not once but twice this weekend in the mile relay, the meeting ground of the best athletes in our sport.
The previous record held by Mike May, Matt McGarvey, Matt Bee, and Connor Manley of 3:19.97 was upended by four tenths of a second per man by Branch (49.0), Young (49.0), Long (50.5), and Kline (49.7) in the District One Championship trials with a 3:18.34. The senior squad returned to do it again with a 3:18.81 effort (50.4-49.5-50.6-48.2) in the finals to clinch 6th place in District One. Amazingly, the top eight seeds in the State Championship this weekend all came from District One. 13 of the top 14 times in Pennsylvania were run by District One schools prior to the district meet.
Young also placed 6th in the hurdles, and advanced to the State Championship Meet on time (39.50) but unselfishly elected to scratch to go all-in on the mile relay. The Bucks' 4x400 was given a nod as one of seven schools with a legitimate shot, as all seven schools are within 2 seconds of each other.
Three Bucks senior throwers had their final outing of a remarkable season at Districts. John Williams placed 14th in the discus, while Will Fernandez and Jackson Butkus placed 11th and 12th overall. West throwers scored an unheard of 355 points for the Bucks this season, nearly enough for five dual meet wins (75 points or more wins)!
The 4x100 and 4x800 meter relays also had oustanding performances on Friday. Sophomore Josh Haschets stepped up in the leadoff spot, teaming up with sophomore Josh Bazzano, freshman Ryan Walsh, and sophomore Andrew Baker to hit a 45.32 with flawless handoffs. Senior AJ Morgan (2:02), freshman Rock Fortna (2:02), senior Jimmie Kilgannon (2:06), and freshman Carter Zerweck (2:08) also had a strong showing, all on the brink of their season bests to earn an 8:23.19.
The Bucks' mile relay and Chris Berry return to action on Friday and Saturday at the State Championship Meet in Shippensburg!