Mounts Shine at Penn Relays

PHILADELPHIA — AJ Morales knew to bide his time in the chase pack during the third leg of Ephrata’s Penn Relays 4x800-meter heat through a driving spring rain at Franklin Field on Friday morning.

“I know some of these guys are nervous in big races like this, and they take it out too fast,” said Morales, the lone senior on the Mountaineers’ burgeoning 4x800 squad, which includes Tyler Shue, Tanyon Loose and Andrew Foster. “I have the experience, and I’ve been in that position before, so I worked my way up slowly and in the last 200, just really kicked it in to bring it home.”

Drawing from his experience, Morales made his move on the back stretch of the storied— and saturated — track, emerging from the four-team chase pack for a split time of 1:57.67 and pulling the Mountaineers toward a second-place finish at 7:57.30, good enough to qualify for today’s 4x800 Championship of America Race, scheduled for 4 p.m.

In Friday’s field events, Penn Manor’s Alex Scheivert claimed fifth place and a Penn Relays medal in the boys javelin championship.

An early assist: After finishing second in the first heat of the day to Jamaica’s St. Elizabeth Tech, the defending Penn Relays champion, which pulled away to win at 7:50.25, the Ephrata boys watched the subsequent 4x800 heats, hoping their time would stand as one of the top 12 to advance, while realizing how close they came to missing their chance entirely.

With the race set to begin, they struggled to fasten their identification bibs.

“I was just nervous,” said Loose, who ran a second-leg split of 2:02.05. “I was like, ‘Are we going to be able to race?’ ” One of the other competitors helped out with the pins, and Shue took off with an opening-leg run of 1:55.48 to give Ephrata an early lead.

“I’m used to running miles,” Loose said. “I’m used to running in packs. I’ve had to get used to being in the lead every time because of Tyler.”

A run in the rain: Shue shot ahead of the pack early in his second lap after the rain, limited to a drizzle at the sound of the starting pistol, intensified. “About a quarter of the way through the race,” Shue said, “I actually felt it starting to pour, but I was already soaked, so it didn’t matter to me.”

After Morales pulled the Mountaineers into second place, Foster held off the rest of the chase pack with a closing leg of 2:02.12.

“I didn’t really hear anybody,” Foster said. “I didn’t hear the crowd.

I was just trying to get into the zone and go.”

Throughout the season, Ephrata’s 4x800 runners have worn an array of novelty socks. Each athlete has a lucky pair, featuring doughnuts, taco dinosaurs, pineapples or dancing watermelons.

Friday, all four boys wore socks sporting rocket pop designs.

“Today, we just decided to match and combine the mojo,” said Morales, his socks soggy and worn and warm from the race. “It worked out.”

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