North Penn wins on a tiebreaker over CB West
TOWAMENCIN >> North Penn and Central Bucks West went down to the wire and beyond it.
After 18 events Thursday, the Knights and Bucks were tied with 75 points each. The first tiebreaker — number of first places — was also a deadlock (9-9). The second tiebreaker — number of second places — went to North Penn, by the count of 8-7, propelling the Knights to a well-earned Suburban One League Continental Conference victory at windy, cold Crawford Stadium.
“It feels good because we were ready to compete,” said the Knights’ C.J. Young, whose exploits included first-place finishes in the 300 hurdles, 110 hurdles and high jump, as well as a third-place finish in the 200 that also proved to be crucial. “We were definitely ready because we knew it was gonna be tough. We put a lot of work into it.
“We’re getting there. We got a little bit of work to do but we’re definitely getting there.”
The Knights (2-1) got wins from Young in the hurdles and high jump, K.J. Cartwright won the 400 and raced to second in the 100, and Brendan O’Toole battled to second in the mile and came back later to outrace everyone in the two mile.
Bryant Durant won the pole vault and triple jump for the Knights and got a second in the long, and in the final field event, North Penn swept the javelin, powered by Tyreece Duke’s throw of 133-4.
“The jav was amazing,” Knights coach Jay Jones said. “It was a collective effort of just competing. We had a freshman out here (John Steele) running his tail off, scoring points in the hurdles, almost scoring a point in the triple jump, P.R.’ing on a day like this.
“When it comes down to it, studs are gonna be studs. You need those role players to be as competitive as possible and it worked out for us today.”
Baker’s Dozen
Brian Baker put in 12 laps around for the Bucks, racing to a victory in the 1,600 and a second place in the 3,200.
In one of the best races of the afternoon, Baker (4:25.84) had a strong kick down the final stretch to hold off O’Toole (4:26.07) in the mile.
“It was a good race,” Baker said. “We took it out real fast. Usually running against North Penn, they like to take it out fast, especially O’Toole. I give a lot of credit to him. We both run really well when we run together.
“I felt strong. It was a good first race for me in the mile. I hadn’t run a really fast mile time this season so it was a good way to get back to running fast.”
The Bucks (1-2) also swept the relays and got a pair of victories in the throws from Kevin Guevara (shot put, discus). West went 1-2-3 in the 800, led by Jake Claricurzio, and Luke Fehrman jumped into the 200 and came away with a victory.
“That was a really neat one to be a part of,” Bucks coach Greg Wetzel said. “My first meet coaching was against CB South in 2012 and we won 76-74. I thought that’s the closest a meet could ever be. Until this.”
