Mounts Secure Matching Section Championships

Zach Werner lined up on the sun-soaked javelin runway at Ephrata for one final series of throws on his home turf. The Ephrata boys were closing in on a Lancaster-Lebanon League Section Two title — their first in 30 years — and the senior thrower wanted to have a hand in history as the Mountaineers marched toward a 106-44 win over visiting Solanco.

“We just wanted to finish out the season strong,” Werner said. “For us seniors, we just wanted to win the section. Ephrata sports haven’t really won many titles. I play football, too, and we haven’t won much, so if feels good to win the section.”

Motivated by the moment, and aided by the brilliant spring weather, Werner opened his series with a winning throw of 150 feet, 3 inches, one of many personal records for the Mountaineers in their title-clinching triumph.

“I knew it was far,” Werner said, “but I didn’t think it would be 150. My goal today was to hit 140. To hit 150 is crazy for me.”

In all, the Mountaineers (6-1) won 14 events Monday. Lampeter-Strasburg’s 100-50 win at Lebanon forced a first-place tie atop the section standings, but Ephrata’s 77-73 win over the Pioneers on April 17 gave the Mounts the tiebreaker for their first section title since 1989.

“The boys, overall, just really stepped up,” Ephrata head coach Wayne Hooper said. “They improved in the field overall throughout the season. They obviously got better on the track as the season went on. Sprinters really stepped up over time. Distance, we’ve always had that as a foundation. I’m definitely pumped up, very proud of all of them. They knew what was at stake today.”

Making history

Matt White, Ephrata’s jumps coach, gave the team a history lesson during a pre-meet pep talk that took a detour into the Ephrata gym, which houses the school’s championship banners. The Ephrata girls, who defeated Solanco, 120-30, had reserved space for another title designation. And, for the first time in school history, the Ephrata boys clinched a section crown in the same year.

“Today was win the section or blow it,” Ephrata junior Sam Knowles said, “and we definitely didn’t want to blow it.”

Knowles contributed with a personal-record win in the 200-meter dash (23.0 seconds), spurred on by teammate Stefano Astudillo, who finished second (23.1) before his momentum took him into a tumble after the finish line.

“I thought he was from Solanco,” Knowles said. “I just saw the hands, and I was, like, ‘I can’t let Solanco beat me.’ Once I saw Stefano fall, I realized it was Stefano. He ran a heck of a race.”

Knowles carried the momentum into the long jump, where he hit a personal- best mark of 20-4 in a second-place finish behind Solanco junior Dom Messano (20-11.5).

“The past few weeks, I was getting close,” Knowles said of the 20-foot barrier. “Today, I finally broke it.”

Messano leads

Messano helped the Golden Mules (1-6) burst out of the gate with a win in the triple jump (40-8.25) that complemented a Solanco sweep in the shot put led by Nate Neuhauser (45-3.75).

“I like their pit,” Messano said. “This is one of my favorite places to jump. When I saw this on my schedule for the last meet, I knew this is where I could get some of my best jumps.”

But the Mountaineers answered on the track, where Kyle Emrey picked up a pair of wins in the 110 high hurdles (16.1) and the 300 intermediate hurdles (43.9), Andrew Foster won the 800 (2:02.5) and 3,200 (10:48.1), and Tyler Shue charged to a win in the 400 (50.4). He pulled away from Solanco’s Colin Althoff — who finished second at a season-best time of 51.4 — after finishing third in the 1,600 (4:51.5) minutes earlier.