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Ephrata splits with Eagles
- 20 April 2006
For three hours, the Cocalico and Ephrata track teams laid it all on the track, the pits and the field. Then, they spent a leisurely five minutes celebrating -- together. That's how high school sports is supposed to be: Give it your best shot as athletes, then congratulate each other as students.
"They're our crosstown rivals, but it's also a friendly competition,'' said Cocalico senior Donnie Graybill, who won four events and scored 20 of his team's points as the Eagle boys toppled Ephrata 101-49 in a Section Two meet Thursday night in Denver.
"Coming into the season, we thought we would be able to compete for the section title,'' said Ephrata coach John Keller, after his girls' team grounded the Eagles 105-44.
After their win, the Cocalico boys (4-0 L-L, 5-0 overall) put themselves into position to capture their first Section Two title since finishing off a run of three straight championships in 2001. The biggest obstacle left for the Eagles is a season-ending showdown May 8 at Garden Spot (3-0 L-L). The Mountaineer boys dropped to 2-2, 3-4.
Ephrata's C.J. Wilson holds off Cocalico's Kyle Fisher to win the 100 in 11.0.
Wilson also won the 200 in 23.0 and anchored the winning 400 relay.
© Suzette Wenger—Intelligencer Journal
Likewise, the Ephrata girls (4-0, 7-0) remained unbeaten, but their biggest test will come Monday in New Holland and will also be at the hands of defending section champion Garden Spot (3-0 L-L). The Cocalico girls fell to 1-3, 2-3.
"We thought we would have a chance to win the section and now we're in position to do it,'' Graybill said. "We've all been gunning for it and we really want to get it.''
Graybill certainly did his part Thursday, recording personal bests in winning the high jump (6-4) and long jump (20-0.75), tying his best in the pole vault (13-6), and coming close to his best in the triple jump (41-9.75).
He came within a hair of breaking the school record when he tried to clear 14-1 in the pole vault. He barely grazed the bar on his way over on his final attempt.
All of this coming from a kid who was sidelined with a foot injury until last week.
"I just try to do my best all the time,'' Graybill said. "The bigger meets really get you going.''
It was a night of highlights for the Eagles, who, in their 14 first-place finishes, had nine season-best performances according to head coach Ron Derr.
Among those standouts were Mike Vanaskie, who won both the 800 (2:02.0) and 1,600 (4:43.5) and Chad Miller, whose 49-7.5 throw ranks him fourth in the league in the shot put.
In the most dramatic finish of the night, Casey Murphy's lean at the end of the 300 hurdles gave him first over Ephrata's Cordell Oberholtzer as both finished in 42.6 seconds.
"It was just a great evening,'' said Derr, whose team will now hit the road after having all five of their meets to date at home.
The Ephrata girls were also impressive, winning 13 events and taking second in 10 more.
The catalyst for the Mounts was sophomore Brynn Lyons, who won the 400 (60.8), long jump (16-2.75) and javelin (102-8) and ran the opening leg of the victorious 3,200 relay (10:56.6).
"Brynn's just really stepped it up all year,'' Keller said. "Anything that's asked of her, she's gone out and done it.''
Junior Taylor Fletcher was also a double winner, taking the high hurdles in 16.5 and the intermediate hurdles in 49.9.
"She's made tremendous strides,'' Keller said of Fletcher. "She's had some amazing growth as a track athlete.''
The Mounts have grown into a title contender. While Keller felt he had the tools to contend for a section championship from the outset of the season, he made sure his team didn't get ahead of itself.
"Never once did we look down the road,'' Keller said. "To this day, not one time did we mention (a possible) Section Two (title) or Garden Spot.''
That all changes now, and Keller knows it.
"I'm thrilled to have the opportunity to go over (to Garden Spot) with a chance for our girls team,'' he said. "I'm proud of the girls and where we're at.''
We here at www.ephratamounts.com are proud sponsors of the Dodgeball for Diabetes tournament.