Track team splits with Eagles
- 07 April 2009
Side-by-side for three events, Kyle Fisher and Jordan Yarbrough took to the track.On the line was not only a potential team victory in the Ephrata-Cocalico Section Two backyard rivalry series, but also early-season bragging rights for the fastest guy in the L-L Track and Field League.
Fisher and his host Eagles (3-0 L-L, 4-0 overall) came out on top in both respects, with the Cocalico senior winning all three head-to-head sprint races while propelling his team to a 94-56 victory over Yarbrough's Mountaineers (2-1, 2-2).
The Ephrata girls just about reversed that outcome, with the Mountaineers (3-0, 4-0) recording a 96-54 win over Cocalico (1-2, 1-3) in dreary conditions that featured some rain showers Monday in Denver.
"They're a heck of a good boys' track team. They came hard and they came prepared,'' Ephrata coach John Keller said of the Eagles. "Our girls, they did extremely well and (the Eagles) are probably saying the same thing about our girls' team.''
"It' a good, friendly rivalry,'' Cocalico coach Ron Derr said of the competition between the neighboring school districts.
He could have easily been speaking of the battle between Fisher, the reigning L-L League Meet champ in the 100, 200 and 400 dashes, and Yarbrough, who, like Fisher, is among the fastest guys in the league in the latest L-L Track and Field Honor Roll.
"You've got to bring it,'' Yarbrough said of racing against Fisher. "My times (11.1 100, 22.8 200, 52.4 400) were obviously not what I wanted, but it will come. You can't have a great day every day.''
Those words could have just as easily come from Fisher, who's putting up some great times despite still battling knee problems. He said he will undergo arthroscopic surgery after participating in the East-West Senior All-Star football game and before heading off to Bloomsburg, where he'll take summer courses before enrolling full-time in the fall.
"(Doctors) just tell me it's because of how I'm built,'' Fisher said of his recurring knee problems. He said he doesn't have enough lubricant under his knee, and that surgery will hopefully alleviate the problem.
"I can hear my knees click when I run. They're not supposed to do that,'' he said.
"We have told Kyle that he has to be totally honest and up front with us if he is hurting,'' Derr said. "Then, we back off or shut him down. The doctor said he can't do any more harm (by competing), but we have to be mindful of how he's feeling.''
Fisher said he was feeling kind of down after his three individual races. Then, he got his times.
"Every time I think I run bad, it's a good time,'' Fisher said. He clocked 10.8 in the 100, a season-best 22.0 in the 200 and 51.6 in the 400, just one-tenth of a second off his best this year.
"Good competition gets my adrenaline going, and Jordan's good competition for me,'' he said.
"Every sport is like Duke-UNC,'' Yarbrough said of competing against Cocalico. He said he's hoping to run track in college, and has narrowed his choices to La Salle, UNC-Asheville and High Point (N.C.) University.
So perhaps a split decision in the meet was only fitting. Just don't let Fisher or Yarbrough hear that, because they want to win every time.
Note: Derr said that Neil Whaley was taken to the hospital for stitches after suffering a gash when the hurdle he fell over ended up landing on his head. No further information was available Monday night.
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