This is my first post on my very own blog! It's all so exciting! But the pressure is also mounting ... what can I put in my first ever blog that lives up to the expectations I have for it. Which track information do I have that is so important that I should place it on here first?
I was looking back over the old penntrack forums, which I do more than I like to admit, espicially when the forums are slow like they are over the summer, and I noticed a forum that I myself started: Is this the year Wissahickon's State Record Finally Goes Down? I was interested to see if anyone had believed CB South would in fact break the record. We know now the CB South not only broke the record, but smashed it, running 7:33 (#6 All-Time)! After Penn Relays and Districts it was clear that South had the potential to do it. They were already under 7:40, Mallon was already under 1:50! However, when this forum was made it was just after the 4x8 performance at Indoor States, and the posts seemed to exhibit just how far the relay still had to go.
I had listed the following splits that would get South the record: 1:57, 1:57, 1:52, 1:50. That barely got you the record. The doubt of the penntrack community was clear. But CB South never doubted themselves. They worked hard and by the time Penn Relays rolled around we witnessed the greatest high school 4x8 in the Nation's History! 7:36 for CB South! With 4 weeks until states the record was surley broken, right?
Wrong, people still doubted. How much lower could this team possibly go? They had essentially 4 PRs in the race! They won't have the same type of push at states! All the doubts continued to culminate. The time was just so fast. To imagine a team whose weakest leg was 1:55 seemed completely rediculous.
I was at the state championships in 2009. History was clearly on everyone's mind and when I woke up the papers seemd to support my theory: Mallon was on the cover with the state record time in huge font displayed a top him. I walked to the stands, stretched Mike Palmisano and sat down next to my coach and friends waiting to see something amazing.
Dickson led off as always and the pace was quick. Muelners took the race through in 55ish for the first 400 and instantly I knew the record was gone. At the exchange Dickson was at 1:55.7! It was roughly a 2 second PR! Then Manion another 1:55. Poiesz broke away from the pack posting his 1:53.2. One more question remained as you looked at the clock. Could Mallon solo a record setting time? His 1:49.1 said yes he could.
10 teams under 7:50! 7:33 out front! The greatest 4x8 I have ever seen in person! I still have the official results sheet that was hanging on the stadium wall in a drawer in my room. It reminds me of the fortune I had, seeing a truly amazing and unbelievable group of performances. There were doubts from all sides and early on very few people believed the record was in danger. But I can think of 4 people who never gave up hope: Jeff Dickson, Dave Manion, Matt Poiesz, and Tom Mallon.
So I say to you blog readers, if you want to be a great runner follow these runners example. Don't listen to the doubters, set big goals, work hard, and don't stop believing.
-etrain
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